Sol Invictus
by Shadowfang901
Summary: Bella is a prestigious goddess on the cusp of adulthood who royally pissed off her fellow gods. She is banished from the heavens and must learn how to be human.This unpleasant experience leads her to finding out about the existence of vampires, werewolves, and succubi. Just when she starts getting comfortable with the supernatural world she recieves an offer to get her powers back
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Bella is a prestigious goddess on the cusp of adulthood who royally pissed off her fellow gods. She is banished from the heavens and must learn how to be unpleasant experience leads her to finding out about the existence of vampires, werewolves, and succubi. Just when she starts getting comfortable with the supernatural world she recieves an offer to earn her powers back. If she upholds her end of the bargain her new friends will be in danger, if she fails half her family will die. What will she choose? No matter what someone will die…**

**Hey Shadowfang here, I decided to try a story in this genre. It's different than some of the other stories I've read or written but I promise it will be interesting. This is the intro chapter and for all the latin terms I put in here there's an explanation at the end explaining them. After this the chapters will be longer and more in depth but I thought this was satisfactory for an intro. Oh yeah and there's a very good chance this will end up as femslash or perhaps a three person paring I haven't decided yet . So if you don't like that then I would not suggest reading futher. Other than that I guess there's not much else to say other than:**

**Read and Enjoy.**

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_Introduction~_

"Isabella Marie Heliades*, granddaughter of Hyperion, Daughter of Helios and Clymene," She winced as their patriarch's cold baritone echoed eerily throughout the throne room, silencing the whispers and robbing her of speech. It was never a good when someone in authority addressed you by your full name. Zeus, king of his realm, leader of Olympus, infamous lightning-will-strike-you-down Zeus leveled her with a piercing glare. The dark tumultuous rage swirling in those timeless orbs forced her to look away-scared. She was officially terrified for her life. No one pissed off the gods of Olympus without a price.

The frown that marred his perfectly chiseled features did nothing to assuage her fears either. "Isabella, your fate has been decided. No more shall you walk these halls. You are forbidden to enter Olympus." Her hazel eyes widened in horror. This didn't sound like a death sentence-this sounded disturbingly like a banishment. He pressed on-each word adding another nail to her imagined coffin. "You will be stripped of your title, and your godly talents and be nothing more than an average mortal."

She opened her mouth to object. Scream. Yell obscenities.

No sound came out.

Nothing.

In her entire millennia of existence she had never felt so disconnected from the present. It was like observing someone else's fall from grace and watching mesmerized as they slipped further and further into oblivion. Bella was drowning in her own emotions.

"Sire, if I may…"

All eyes snapped towards the new voice, her own included. She knew that voice intimately. Her father, Helios god of the sun towered over the other deities assembled. Like all gods he was ethereal and distressingly beautiful, and like all gods he had impeccable timing. His melodic tenor washed over the room like a cool breeze. Any human would have been instantly entranced-Zeus simply sighed in exasperation though.

"I'm assuming you're here to petition for your devil's spawn. Speak Helios. " The thunder god commanded impatiently.

Incensed at being compared to one of Hade's brats, Isabella felt her irritation flaring dangerously. She was old, but still a child compared to Zeus and his brethren. Reacting to Zeus' poorly masked insults would not win her mature points though, so with a clenched jaw she ignored them focusing on her father.

Helios chuckled, his sculpted face glowing with amusement. " Every Heliades is a fiery hellion. Isabella is the most well behaved of my children actually. That being said I can assume by the number of gods and goddesses assembled here that asking to revoke banishment is a moot point?"

Zeus inclined his head, the closest he would come to a nod of agreement.

Helios, unperturbed at the information allowed a chesire grin to stretch across his lips. "Very well. I don't object to her banishment, but I am requesting she be allowed to keep a fragment of her power. The world is not as it was thousands of years ago. Not just humans inhabit it anymore. Creatures of power rule the world from the shadows, and it would not be fair to send my kin there unarmed…after all this is simply a banishment."

With growing apprehension Isabella realized her father was not present to advocate her innocence- he was trying to lighten her punishment. Confusion rippled through her. Why did he always choose to support her in the most inconvenient ways? Really? His parenting skills left a lot to be desired.

After Helio's bold statement no one dared speak. No god or goddess found the courage to breech through the culpable tension in the room. It was far too costly, far too dangerous to interrupt the proceedings now.

Only one dared break the ominous silence and it was literally the last person Isabella wanted to hear. "Zeus dear, what harm could it do to leave the wench some of her power? She will still be a weakling in comparison to any of the other gods." Hera's velvety sweet voice entranced the room, lulling them into a false sense of security before she brutally eviscerated someone-someone like Isabella. She was not fooled by Zeus' wife. Hera the self-proclaimed queen of the gods did not care what happened to her. In fact there was a very real chance Hera was simply throwing in her two cents so she could watch Isabella flail ignorantly around the mortal world until she met an untimely demise.

The woman was a vindictive whore like that.

Zeus stood up, inadvertently drawing every eye in the room towards him. He had fallen silent while contemplating Helio's words, but clearly a decision had been made with Hera's prodding. His impassive gaze traveled the vast expanse of his throne room, and paused to settle on her. "Isabella Marie Heliades you are a goddess no more. Only a portion of your power will remain, not enough to constitute you as a threat to the divine, but enough for you to survive as a mortal." His lips curled up in a cruel smile. "Ego Vobis Valedico." *

Isabella gaped as the Latin dismissal registered to her stunned mind. All at once she felt her power being ripped from her. As a goddess of the sun, her power embodied flames-she thrived on heat and fire. It was her birthright, and as much a part of her as her eyes or her ears. Sharp emptiness filled the area where her power should be. Many passive deities watched in sympathy as tongues of fire bled from her, caressing her immortal body before disappearing into sparking embers. Layer after layer of energy, of divinity was ripped from her before nothing but a cold empty shell remained.

A mortal remained.

The last thing Isabella saw before she was cast out, before Zeus's power enveloped her and hurled her limp body from Olympus was the furious glint to her father's eyes.

Then like everything else Helios disappeared from her line of sight and Isabella's world went completely dark.

**de bono et malo ***

The next time Isabella woke up it was with an acute sense of wrongness. She felt misplaced in her mortal body. Her limbs were heavy and awkward. Her instincts were difficult to place and her emotions were all skewed. After staring at her surroundings for close ten minutes it was safe to say she was lost. When she allowed her eyes to rove downward to peer at her new human appendages, she was met with fair fragile looking skin.

"You've got to be kidding me." She murmured disbelievingly, flexing her fingers and joints to make sure everything was intact. With painful slowness she experimented with her legs, slowly hauling herself to her feet. Immediately upon reaching a standing position she wobbled, unused to the sensation of working with exhausted muscles. "This is really…pathetic." She sighed feeling her elation wear off from doing something as simple as standing.

How was she supposed to get around if just standing was a chore?

Isabella frowned her lips pursing in a thin line.

Humans were so bloody weak.

Disgruntled, and more than a little distressed Isabella took a deep breath to center herself- inhaling and exhaling slowly through pale trembling lips. The calming action did not relax her though. For some reason it seemed to have the opposite effect. In fact for the first time in over a century she had to fight back the barrage of tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. An overwhelming sense of loss coursed through her. Choking her. She had been cast out of her home, deprived of her status and her power. She could no longer produce fire, not even a little flame sparked from her fingers. Everything that had once defined her was gone, ripped from her in an instant.

Her eyes burned from unshed tears and Isabella blinked defiantly, refusing to cry. Even now the gods were probably watching her, observing her. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her grieve. She would have to mourn the loss of her divinity later

Standing straighter Isabella swallowed her grief, burying it down deep to unearth at later date. Preferably one when she wasn't the laughing stock of the divine community. At the present she had bigger problems to tackle. She had to determine where she was and figure out how she was going to maintain this human body. She was aware she needed nutrition and hydration to survive. Common sense dictated she handle her basic needs first than worry about her superficial ones. She felt her gaze dropping to her now mortal figure and a very human blush painted her cheeks. Finding clothes was one of those needs.

Apparently being thrown from the heavens, and deprived of immortality ingrained her with a sense of modesty. Nakedness had never bothered her before. Ugh. She wondered what other ridiculous sentimentalities she was cursed with. It was not a pleasant thought.

Clumsily she heaved herself out of the mini-crater Zeus had so callously threw her in. The movement made her muscles twinge in discomfort. As much as it pained her to admit it her equilibrium might never be the same. With some practice she might grasp some of the inherent grace she used to have-but her days of gliding soundlessly wherever she wanted to go were gone. With that depressing thought in mind she shakily took a few steps away from the land she had decimated with her arrival.

Her eyes surveyed her surroundings, hoping she might recognize something-anything. It was a false hope. Nothing looked even remotely familiar. Long elegant trees towered over her. An ocean of green filled the scope of her limited vision. Every sense she had was slowly becoming attuned with the forest. She could smell the greenery, feel the soft breeze wafting over her skin and sifting through the trees. It was soothing.

Involuntarily a small smile crossed her lips.

Perhaps this place was not such a hellhole.

**di meliora***

Loathe to sit there enjoying nature while there were more relative things that needed attention Isabella began to walk. Eventually she would have to come across civilization. It was inevitable. Humans populated like roaches. There were towns and cities even in the most obscure parts of the world. She was familiar with some of them, but she was not exactly an expert on them.

As a Heliades she spent a large majority of her time learning her father's craft, and mingling with her obscenely large family. Helios' occupation as the sun god demanded rigorous training and unwavering concentration. For thousands of years before she was even a thought he was the Sol Invictus, irrefutable in his power and revered for his craft. Each day by his grace alone the sun would rise and set-his power dictated whether the sun's life giving rays shined down on the earth to sustain it. The earth continued spinning at his whim.

She wanted that power. She craved it. For the longest time she poured over the tools of his trade honing her skills with them. She familiarized herself with the infamous chariot that dragged the sun across the sky. She forged an unbreakable bond with the raucous and deadly inferno stallions, harnessing their power and fortifying their flames with her own. She loved those beasts, they were heart wrenchingly beautiful and extremely lethal at the same time. She treasured them. Fondly her mind reached for their names-

Eous, Aethiops, Bronte, and Sterope*.

Working with them, riding them, garnering their strength was a difficult skill yet wonderful skill to learn. It was a delicate balance playing with beasts that had the potential to kill you. In mastering them, bonding with them she had accomplished something none of her siblings ever had. She had earned the right to be called Heliades, but the process had been so time consuming she had barely paid attention to anything else.

Isabella knew nothing about human affairs or the current condition of the world anymore.

She had watched with a critical eye as the fall of Rome dictated the future of several nations. She had monitored the Dark Ages and the age of Chivalory. She even vaguely recalled the Victorian Age and some remnants of the Age of Enlightenment. Anything beyond that was hearsay and whatever was gestated from her gossipy attention seeking peers.

She wasn't even sure of the current year.

"Son of a…" Isabella cursed as she blindly stumbled through the undergrowth, an upturned root nearly causing her to faceplant. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts she had lost track of her surroundings. No longer was she in the dense center of the forest instead she seemed to have reached the outskirts of the forest and was precariously finding her way to a new setting again.

Directly in front of her a small uphill slope curbed into what appeared to be a dirt road. Tracks aligned in the dirt depicted this paths heavy use. It did not take a genius to see the road was well traveled. At some point a pedestrian would have to pass through here and perhaps she could see about getting some sustenance and clothes.

Her eyes narrowed as the rancid stench of oil registered to her fatigued human senses. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

What the hell was that?

That smell was gross.

Her eyes perused her location again and cautiously she picked her way up to the road using her upperbody to heave herself onto the dirt path.

Rolling onto her side Isabella clumsily stumbled to her feet glancing back and forth down the road looking for someone, anyone that could provide transportation. Off in the distance a loud resounding roar caught her attention. Her eyes flickered in the direction of the sound, and she tensed. What was that? The first inkling of fear coursed through her as the sound grew louder indicating whatever was making that noise was getting closer. Fast.

She barely had a second to brace herself before a huge steel contraption on wheels tore around the corner swerving dangerously. _Great idea, standing in the middle of the road where any intoxicated moron could run you over- what's your next brilliant idea for the day?_ A small voice in the back of her head mocked her mercilessly. Terror gripped her and Isabella tried to force her herself to move but to no avail. It was too late, by the time she squashed the fear gripping her muscles the large machine was already on top of her.

For the second time that day her world was dominated by pain and her vision went black.

**diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis***

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**End of the Chapter. What do you think, and yes Bella did just get hit by a car. Haha. Anyways- The Latin and the use of greek gods and Goddesses wasn't too bad right? R and R lemme know what your opinion and if I should continue this or not XD**

*Heliades is actually the surname given to any child of Helios. Bella is Helio's favorite child in this particular story so I thought I'd just incorporate the surname as her last name. Hyperion was one of the Titans that were overthrown by Cronus and his brethren-A.K.A Zeus' father that ate him at birth.

*. Ego Vobis Valedico. Means "I say to you Goodbye" in Latin.

*De Bono et Malo means "of Good and bad, Come what may" in Latin

*De melioria means "Heaven sends us better times" in Latin

* Eous, Aethiops, Bronte, and Sterope are the names of the four steeds that Helio's uses to guide the sun across the sky. They are the immortal horses that draw the sun chariot All of the horses names represent different aspects of the sky.**Eous**; by him the sky is turned. **Aethiops**, as if faming, parches the grain. These trace-horses are male. The female are yoke-bearers: **Bronte**, is whom we call Thunder, and **Sterope**, whom we call Lightning.

*Diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis means "He pulls down, he builds up, he changes square things to round."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey SF901 here~ This is the first chapter of Sol Invictus. Sorry it's late I have to do my research so I can accurately ingratiate the gods in the twilight world and I have other responsibilities outside of writing. I apologize beforehand for any mistakes this is an unbeta-ed story. The explanation of the Greek terms is at the bottom, and you can always pm me any questions you might have.**

**Other than that there's nothing much to say except read and enjoy^^**

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First Chapter~

"Alright I want to know what she did. What damage was done and how can we unravel it?"

Helios sat up in his chair as their patriarch addressed the gods. To the right and left of him his blood relatives all adopted similar positions of concern. All the high born gods had gathered for a communal of the divine. It was a historical gathering that only took place once every thousand years. Such a meeting only occurred in the most devastating of circumstances-Apparently his daughter, lovely little Isabella had unveiled something horrific: something that had even the most volatile of gods scared.

Zeus stood poised at the head of the table, more beautiful than any other deity, and also more unpredictable. His intentions in calling this meeting to order were hard to guess but it was clear something had terrified the thunder god into summoning them. Even Hera, Zeus' evil vindictive wife looked pensive. It was a rare thing indeed to see both rulers apprehensive. It was virtually unheard of for both of them to be scared of the same thing at the same time.

Their rulers' anxious mood was affecting everyone else at the table too. Helios included. To the right of Zeus his temperamental brother Poseidon frowned his perfect features seeming to darken in anger. To the left of Hera, the great god of war-Ares simply sat back with an amused gleam in his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the tension in the air.

Next to him the god of volcanoes and weaponry-Hephaestus clapped Ares companionably on the back with a loud guffaw shattering the delicate silence in the room. The rest of the gods down the length of the table had similar reactions to Zeus' words.

Athena had a condescending smirk gracing her lips. Helios knew her sense of duty had been tickled. As a goddess of heroes, wisdom and warfare-Athena always, no matter the consequences supported the underdog. It was that way in the Golden Era of Troy. It was still that way in 2012.

Further down the length of the table Aphrodite sat her hands clasped thoughtfully under her chin. She appeared concerned in a way that was foreign to her violent counterparts. Ares and Athena didn't waste energy worrying like the rest of the gods. They simply destroyed whatever was threatening them. The goddess of love did not have any such inclination so it wasn't surprising to see her concerned.

Dionysius, Helios' least favorite god sat back in his chair, letting out a loud fruity giggle. Unlike any other divine being that heralded over something useful-Dionysius was a god of pleasure. He thrived on wine, and exotic entertainment. Things pertaining to the future, or important issues that could dictate fate didn't interest him. There was a very good chance he was just here for the feast taking place after the meeting.

Hovering next to Dionysius was one of the biggest contributers to nature. Demeter-goddess of the harvest sat at the table trying to mask her worry and failing miserably. She had a tendency to obsess and dote over every obscene little detail so Zeus' ominous words had no doubt scared her. In any other situation her worry might be amusing. Not today.

Idly Helio's noted the gods that were absent.

Hades and his creepy wife Persephone had not shown up for the meeting and neither had Selene the goddess of the moon. Even with their seats empty, and these three gods missing something was being decided today. Everyone could feel it. The culpable tension in the room had every divine being paranoid, wired-waiting for some hellstorm to break loose.

Helios threaded his fingers absentmindedly through his hair, a human gesture.

What had his little firebrand unleashed?

"I spoke to the Oracle of Delphi." Hera hesitantly broke the quiet again, her eyes flickering nervously to her husband. Clearly she did not want to be the bearer of bad news, but the Oracle was her creature. No one else could commune with an underworld seer from Olympus. Despite the numerous rumors circulating Earth the gods were not all powerful-they could not interfere in Hade's realm on a whim. Every eye at the table regarded her with interest waiting for her to continue.

"And?" Zeus thundered impatiently his hands slamming into the table. The action made the table legs creak in protest. Several deities jumped in surprise, startled at being so close to the object of Zeus' wrath. Used to Zeus' temper after being married to him for several millennia Hera did not even bat an eyelash at his tantrum. Ignoring the thunder god- She calmly surged on with her explanation.

"Isabella did not just change some nameless human's fate. The Oracle* said our Fate had been changed." Hera spat out each word like it was poison. "She spoke of a new generation taking the reigns, and dismantling everything we took thousands of years to build…She spoke of war" Her eyes darted over the assembled gods' faces and lingered on Helios. "With your child at the center…Because of you our days are numbered." She hissed her eyes flashing in rage.

"That has nothing to do with me. Her punishment was your choice. My daughter would not be the key to Armageddon if she was still here. Her banishment was _your_ decision."

Helios replied coldly, leveling Hera with infuriated glare.

"Maybe we should have killed her instead. Execution is always more entertaining anyways. In fact perhaps the entire Heliades line should be eliminated. They're more trouble than they are worth."

Incensed, Helios stood up trying and failing to reign in his temper. Hera had overstepped herself this time. No one was going to touch his children. Not Hera. Not Zeus. No deity had that right. His children were his and his alone. He would annihilate anyone that threatened them. Rules be damned. A cruel smile stretched across his lips and in an even tone he replied. "Hera I don't care what your status in Olympus is. You hurt even one of my children and I will end you."

Zeus stepped forward at the threat his whole posture rigid, coiled with so much anger he was like an aggravated cobra ready to strike.

Hera opened her mouth but a low wolf whistle interrupted the soon-to-be violent proceedings. "Aren't we all rather touchy today…" Athena had also risen from her seat when Hera's ugly side began to show. Gracefully she glided to the other end of the table where Helios stood, defiantly. The goddess of wisdom sent him a look filled with undisguised mirth. "Helios relax…you know she would not hurt your bloodline and you can't exactly argue that your children are angels. They do have a tendency to get in trouble." She smirked, but the amusement quickly faded when she got to the crux of the matter.

Her eyes dulled a bit as she adopted an air of solemnity. "You especially can't fault Hera for being upset. Consulting the Oracle of Delphi always ends in tragedy for someone and she's predicted a dark future us."

Despite the false benevolence marring her words he could not deny the truth in them. They all knew the Oracle of Delphi never gave inaccurate predictions. She predicted the trials of Heracles*, and his inevitable death. She predicted the fall of Python, the son of Gaia. She even predicted the coming of Jason of the Argonauts and the complete crap storm that followed. The Oracle was different than any other seer. Her prophecies always came to pass-they were inevitable, inescapable, and forever looming like a bad dream. Now she predicted the end of Olympus.

Helios deflated, his face crumpling in defeat.

What were they going to do?

"So what's the plan?" Ares voiced the question on everybody's mind that no one dared to ask.

Zeus stood up at his full height, filling the room with his anger, and his presence. "We're going to defy fate. I determine the outcome of the gods. My destiny-our destiny is not to be determined by some child."

The words were meant to be inspiring, and to rouse the gods' sense of pride, and superiority. To Helios they simply sounded hollow.

Running from fate never worked. Even gods' are held accountable to that rule.

Next to Zeus Poseidon, master of the ocean and every sea snorted, sending his brother an irritated glance. "You are a fool. Forget the child your stupidity will be the end of us." He sneered, voicing his opinion for the first time since the meeting had started.

"The hothead has a point. Running from fate only ends in sorrow. Look at Oedipus." Athena murmured softly, her words only intelligible to Helios because she was standing so close to him. The sun god suppressed a shudder. *Oedipus' fate had been divined at birth-he was supposed to kill his father and marry his mother. His parents in a desperate act to avoid that sent him away, and in doing so sealed their fate.

Bloody depressing tale.

"Let's hope we fair better than that mortal." He whispered back sending Athena a sidelong glance. The goddess of wisdom and hero's simply grinned, a small breathtaking smile gracing her lips.

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"hehe." The table fell silent as Dionysius' drunken burp disturbed the serious discussion taking place. The inebriated god giggled again and with an authoritative bang slammed his drinking flask on the table. "Just out of curiosity, has anyone seen Hephaestus?" He whined, taking another swig out of the flask.

Everyone froze.

Slowly, with almost painful reluctance every eye trailed to the empty seat next to Ares.

"Shit." Hera cursed startling several people.

"That idiot." Athena muttered with a fond grin.

"There he goes again." Ares commented wryily, sitting back in his chair.

"I'm going to kill him." Zeus sighed, cradling his head in his hands.

"Let's party!" Dionysius crowed tossing his flask up in the air and showering the gods with droplets of wine. Helios chuckled while everyone else glared murderously at the pleasure god. At the rate this was going Isabella, his little firebrand was going to have plenty of time to get acclimated to the human world. She could blend in and perhaps go into hiding…With Hephaestus' help.

It went without saying that Hephaestus had disappeared while everyone else was preoccupied-it didn't take a genius to figure out where he had gone either. The meddling game had begun. Isabella was now a very important human so most of the gods were going to start making little trips to earth.

Defying fate-Zeus' rallying cry to action was just another way of saying. _"We're going to destroy the person endangering my rule."_ As of right now Isabella was not simply a fallen goddess she was a viable threat. No one wanted her to usher in the new age yet.

That being said-His daughter's life was very much in danger.

Helios could not protect her. It pained him to admit it but he had other responsibilities. He could only risk going to the mortal world at night when he was not dragging the sun across the sky. Unfortunately that meant for a majority of the day Isabella was vulnerable. Humans were so…fragile.

Someone could kill her. Graphically. Horribly.

Helios frowned, disconcerted at the thought.

Imagining his little firebrand gone was…unpleasant.

For now she was safe. For now Hephaestus would keep her alive.

"Let the games begin." Athena smirked next to him, and the assembled deities straightened each feeling as if an imaginary gauntlet had been thrown.

Let the games begin indeed.

**aut viam inveniam aut faciam**

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"I didn't know what to do! I thought I was hallucinating!" Isabella winced doing her best to block out the panicked voice that was rousing her from sleep. Even half awake she could identify the voice as female.

"Ma'am." A much calmer voice tried to interrupt the whiny tirade unsuccessfully.

"What sane woman runs out in the middle of the road completely naked?!" The dramatic woman continued screaming, her voice rising exponentially with each word.

"Ma'am." The soothing masculine voice tried to interrupt again, but was rudely silenced by the woman's theatrics.

"I didn't mean to hit her!" The woman whined, her voice cracking with the effort not to dissolve into angry sobs.

"Ma'am! This patient needs rest, if you cannot calm down I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The level headed male raised his voice for the first time, forcing the woman to cease her sniffling. At his frustrated tone Isabella reluctantly peeled one eye open drinking in the scene laid out before her with some annoyance. At the very edge of her bed, a tall man adorned in white robes, carrying a metal instrument stood addressing a woman on the verge of tears. Isabella opened her mouth to say something to the pair and paused her eyes glazing over in pain. Her mortal body felt like it had been crushed by a boulder. Every sinew, nerve, and bone was screaming in abuse.

Biting back a whimper Isabella managed to croak a short sentence. "Where am I?"

As soon as the words left her lips, she found she had both humans undivided attention. The prestigious male grinned reassuringly. "You're in a hospital. My name is Dr. Connor." He grasped the female's shoulder companionably and Isabella's gaze shifted to her, studying the now relieved looking woman with some interest. "And this is Layla-she was the woman driving the car that hit you." He surmised with a solemn nod.

Isabella blinked at the foreign terms. Her comprehension of English was practically perfect but this man was speaking an entirely different language. What was a hospital? And at what point in time did she get hit by a car? What was a car? Her brows furrowed in confusion as she mulled over the alien words. "I do not…understand." She admitted finally, unable to mask her ignorance.

The obnoxious woman-Layla, let out a small pained groan. "Oh my god. She has amnesia I hit a naked woman with my car and gave her brain damage…I'm going to hell." She muttered pitifully cradling her head in her hands. The good "doctor" gave her a reassuring pat on the back and fixed the fallen goddess with a concerned look, which Isabella pointedly ignored.

"Miss I'd be happy to explain anything that confuses you." Dr. Connor offered politely speaking to her like one would a naïve child. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his tone. She was positive she was several thousands of years older than him, if she was a child he was an unborn fetus.

"What is this..,place?" She grunted, eyeing her surroundings suspiciously. She was in an all white room, with white walls, white sheets and a white bed. She was propped up by white pillows, and wrapped in white bandages. Surrounding her bed were large beeping machines she didn't recognize. She couldn't fathom what they were for.

Uncomfortably the doctor cleared his throat. "Well ma'am you're in a hospital like I already mentioned a second ago." Her brow shot up, clearly- That explanation did nothing for her. At her blank expression, he elaborated further, his face coloring slightly. "Hospitals are places people go when they are hurt, or when they're sick. We give them medicine or expert medical help so they can get well again."

Satisfied with the explanation, she let her features soften a bit. Apparently she was in a place for healing. This man was probably a healer. As if to confirm that thought Dr. Connor began asking her about her wounds.

"Miss I'd like to ask you a series of questions to determine if you really do have amnesia, and I'd like to run some tests if that's alright?"

Amnesia? Tests?

Isabella, frustrated with her lack of knowledge by this point simply nodded.

"Okay." He said serenely, while reaching out to grasp the clip board on the nearby table. He paged through the first few papers. "To start off with, what's your name?" He asked curiously preparing to write down her answers.

"Isabella Marie Heliades."

He paused, pen hovering uncertainly in the air. "Come again?"

Even the obnoxious woman was looking at her strangely.

Isabella hesitantly repeated herself. She had the sinking suspicion that perhaps she should have lied about her name. Last time she checked people were not naming their children ancient Greek names-that trend had died out thousands of years ago.

"Isabella Marie Heliades…" The Doctor echoed derisively. "Okay, and how old are you?"

This time she knew she was going to have to lie. Explaining she was several thousands year old was an asinine idea that had no appeal. The sweet deception streamed through her lips with almost no effort. "I'm nineteen." She supplied helpfully, keeping mind that she looked like a typical adolescent.

"Nineteen-beautiful, and do you have any living relatives? Parents? Siblings?"

This question was marginally harder to answer. She had no desire to think about her parents. Her recent banishment was still too recent-too raw for words. She had been cruelly ripped from her father, from her sisters. They were dead to her. Buried grief surged through her drowning her, choking her. Unable to think of a convincing backstory and loathe to sit there mute with grief-she fought back the traitorous tears that were threatening to spill forth.

"No family." She whispered hoarsely.

At her stricken expression the doctor set down his clipboard. "Are you sure?" He asked deploringly, questioning her as if she was something less than a millennia year old goddess of the sun. He was treating her delicately, like she was fragile-like she was mortal.

It was pissing her off.

"I'm positive." She replied shortly.

"Alright then." He hesitantly changed the tide of the conversation and picked up the clipboard again. "And how do you feel? Layla fell asleep at the wheel, and woke up in time to change direction so the car only grazed you. You were lucky it wasn't a head on collision so most of your wounds are superficial."

She tilted her head to the side feeling completely lost. "I feel…sore." She admitted after dissecting his words, and discerning their meaning. Why couldn't this healer ask questions like a normal person? Talking to him was exhausting.

"That's good very good." He stated chipperly.

"Doctor Connor." A woman in a uniform similar to the doctor's lingered indecisively in the doorway, a perturbed expression dominating her face.

He ripped his gaze away from Isabella's prone form and focused on the new arrival. "Yes Nurse Gonzalez?"

"There's a man here that says he knows our patient. He says he's a relative."

"A relative?" Both eyebrows shot up, and he hummed thoughtfully. "Isabella says she has no relatives. Did he give a name?" Incredulity ruled his normally vibrant expression. Something was suspect. Even this overly enthusiastic healer could feel the wrongness in the air.

"He said he's her Uncle Henry."

Isabella frowned. Uncle Henry? No god or mortal kin of hers had such a bland depressingly ordinary name, but it had to be someone from the divine community. She had only been human for a handful of hours, not nearly enough time to make friends-Especially not friends that masqueraded as some random surrogate uncle that no one's ever heard of.

Who could it be?

Not her father Helios. Hermes perhaps? He was well known for his tricks and was famous for his meddling in the human world.

Dr. Connor sent her a cautious glance. "Ms. Heliades what would you like to do? Do you want to see your uncle?"

Isabella sighed. She wasn't in a sociable mood. She didn't want too see anyone-let alone deal with this farce of a family reunion. However, she was not in a position to refuse. With her wounds still healing and her body incapacitated she was vulnerable. Any god with an ounce of power could sneak into her room, and she would not be able to protect herself.

Her helplessness as a human was staggering.

Resigned to her mortal failings, Isabella nodded grimly. "Sure. Maybe I can salvage what little family I have left. I would love to meet my uncle." She trailed off pathetically with a wince.

Dr. Connor still not completely sure of the safest course of action, nodded his assent. "Okay...Bring him in." The nurse ducked out into the hallway and Isabella lapsed into a comfortable silence with the doctor. At some point Layla had snuck out of the room-content to know her actions hadn't killed anyone. Still examining her paperwork, Doctor Connor proceeded to ignore her was left alone with her thoughts, and she had enough plenty to think about.

She was no longer a Heliades. No longer a goddess.

She barely even qualified as a human.

She had no purpose in life anymore. None. Nothing mattered.

What was she going to do?

"Ah if it isn't my lovely niece." The nurse had returned with a large intimidating man in tow. He stood several inches taller than the prestigious doctor, and had twice Dr. Connor's bulk. His grizzly appearance was offset by his stunning azure eyes, and long silky hair. Her Uncle Henry was clearly a god even though she was struggling to match a name with his face.

"Hello." She dipped her head and examined her ethereal relative more closely. At her blatant staring, he seemed to swell up with almost childish pride, and suddenly, as if struck by one of Zeus' lightning bolts she had an epiphany.

"Oh my god." She groaned, falling back into English slang when no curses in Latin were forthcoming.

Hephaestus the unequivocal god of volcano's, fire, and weaponry stood at the foot of her bed-mirthful and thoroughly enjoying her exasperation.

"Hello little firebrand."

He mocked, using her father's nickname for her. Refusing to acknowledge that with a response, Isabella grunted and fell back dramatically into her pillows. She covered her face with a hand and prayed the Earth would swallow her whole. She knew what her "uncle's" arrival meant.

Banishment was no longer her only punishment.

Something on a much grander scale was happing.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

**beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere**

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**-Okay that's the end of the first official chapter of this story. What do you all think? XD Stay tuned for the next chapter, it's coming soon.**

**-The Oracle of Delphi was hard to incorporate in the story. She's actually one of Apollo's seers that everyone went to for prophecies, but Hera occasionally convinced her to tailor her messages so she can ruin someone else's life. In order to help with the plot, I made her Hera's seer that she could contact from anywhere on a whim.**

**-Heracles was the original name for Hercules. For anyone that doesn't know what happened to him Hera meddled in his life because she's very jealous and dangerous. She made him go crazy and kill his wife and children than to redeem himself he went to the Oracle of Delphi who told him to work for some foreign king. The foreign king wanted him to complete 12 trials.**

**-I don't know much about Jason of the Argonauts, or Python-Gaia's son. All I know about them is written in the Heracles section and I didn't feel like researching them.**

**-Oedipus is fun lil story in Greek mythology of a boy that killed his father and married his mother. It ends with him blinding himself and his mother committing suicide all because they tried to escape fate. It's also a psychology term known as the Oedipus complex which is a major Freudian..thing.**

**-Aut viam inveniam aut faciam means "I will either find a way or make one."**

**-Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere means "To accept a favor is to sell one's freedom."**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo^^**

**Sorry this is late. My muse kind of went on a vacation and than I had to do research to upload the chapter, but yeah here it is and thanks to everyone who reviewed. Also to answer some questions:**

**Artapdrkstr- Ha. I was wondering if someone with a background in greek mythology was gonna read this story ^^ You're right on a number of points. Helios is actually a Titan that probably shouldn't be in this story at all. You're also right-the equivalent for him is Apollo. Helios' presence in this story was an accident actually… for some odd reason I forgot about Apollo. I was too lazy to go back and correct it so I just decided to leave Helios as the sun god. Then I fell in love with the surname Heliades so it just seemed like a good idea to keep Helios around. You asked about if I'm intertwining Roman mythology in here? No…I'm trying not too. The name Sol Invictus was simply borrowed and I'm using it as a title, and a position to be earned. Basically I'm taking Greek Mythology and the Twilight world and butchering them spectacularly into this monster of a fic XD**

**Beishiznit- Yes this story is a Tanya/Bella. I'm just going slow in getting them together, and yes Tanya and the others will show up around chapter four or chapter five…so soon:3**

**Dayla859- Gracias para tus palabaras y si- Tanya y Bella sera juntos. :)**

**So yeah Read and enjoy^^**

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Chapter 2~

"It's perfectly safe."

Hephaestus murmured soothingly, unadulterated mirth dancing in his eyes. Isabella was staring at his Lamborghini like it had personally done something to her. Well perhaps getting hit by a car, and ending up in the hospital had something to do with her new found phobia of motor vehicles. It didn't mean all cars were evil though.

At his calming words she seemed to twitch a bit, her eyes flicking to him. "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe Uncle Henry." She ground out, amusing him even further.

Her spiteful mood was to be expected. After all she just lost her divinity less than twenty-four hours ago. Such a loss of power, of beauty, would traumatize any immortal. Isabella was no different. However, despite her newly acquired human status Hephaestus could still see some of her former glory. She still had the same chiseled features, high cheekbones, and long auburn hair. Even as a human Isabella was breathtakingly beautiful and proud. Instead of accepting her inferiority she held her head high, and channeled the same measure of arrogance every deity possessed. She still carried herself like a goddess.

Hephaestus liked that. Isabella acted just like her father, and he respected Helios more than any other god or goddess combined. The sun god just possessed a certain quality about him-one that demanded reverence and respect. Isabella was slowly inheriting her father's exceptional presence. She deserved to be treasured, groomed, and molded into something amazing, but he knew that was impossible.

Zeus would kill her.

Long before she developed fully as a goddess, and long before she realized her potential Zeus would utterly destroy her. Hephaestus had no doubt about that. The king of the gods was cruel, and had no qualms about eliminating a mortal he deemed as a threat. Unfortunately- Isabella was the biggest threat they'd seen in over a millennia.

No one had the faintest idea of her importance when Zeus cast her out from the heavens. They were ignorant and stupid then. They were scared. Now everyone knew, and everyone wanted to use her-to influence her. Every wanted a say in how the New Age was going to be crafted. Zeus wanted to destroy the possibility of a new future altogether-the other gods all had their own designs.

Hephaestus also had his own agenda. So when Zeus hurled Helios' little firebrand from Olympus he watched closely-calculatingly as she fell. Very few gods paid attention to her trajectory. Even less deities bothered looking where she would land. Besides himself, only Athena and Zeus would be able to discern Isabella's location and that's only if she had not moved very far.

Hephaestus definitely planned to move her.

Far and fast.

It didn't take long to track her down from the giant crater she created in the earth from her landing. It took even less time to call a few contacts, and forge some papers so he could legally drag her wherever he wanted. The hospital was reluctant to release her into his custody, but after convincing some very gullible humans he was a concerned uncle and flashing fake guardianship papers at them-Isabella was released into his care.

According to the good doctor her wounds were superficial and she was well enough to move around, but not well enough to travel very far. Hephaestus smirked.

He didn't plan to travel very far…

Just a couple of states over.

Even though she crash landed here, he doubted Texas, Helios' favorite state was a good place to leave Isabella. She would be found instantly. She was going to have to move somewhere less sunny for a bit-somewhere where the gods scarcely looked. As much as it pained him to admit it-The only place nearby that lacked sunlight, and good weather was the state of Washington. Temporarily she would have to be hidden there until he could figure out where she should stay.

Isabella was going to be pissed.

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Isabella reluctantly slid into the passenger seat of the car, worry written in every line of her face. Her nerves were completely totaled. She had no desire to travel in this vibrating death machine. Her recent brush with death left her leery of all motor vehicles. Her Uncle Henry's car may be shiny, and very sleek but that didn't change the fact that it was dangerous and could get her killed, or at least permanently crippled.

Not only was the vehicle dangerous the man driving the vehicle was also detrimental to her health. She did not know Hephaestus. Isabella could not even label him an acquaintance. She knew he was the god of volcanoes, as well the Zeus' armament master. He crafted divine weapons, such as Zeus' thunderbolts, and Artemis'arrows. His skill as a weapons smith, and his power over magma were all Isabella knew about him.

In other words-her life was now in the hands of a complete stranger.

"Don't look so worried my dear, we're just going for a short drive."

He smiled innocently, prompting to her relax. Unsurprisingly it had the opposite effect. His false compassion irked her, and Isabella turned a wrathful glare on him. "What do you want with me?" She all but growled unable to bottle her frustration any longer.

It was one thing to be a fallen goddess completely bereft of her powers, it was another thing entirely to be considered one of the god's playthings. She was not a TOY that they could jerk around whenever the urge hit them. Every last one of the divine community had a horrible tendency of treating humans like amusing little insects they could squash whenever they pleased. She didn't care how dire the circumstances were, or if her life was in danger she refused to allow herself to just be another pawn in Zeus' game.

"Relax little Heliades, all I want at the present is to get you somewhere safe." He grinned, and took out a key. He started the car, and the engine purred to life startling her a bit.

"Safe?" She echoed disbelievingly pushing back her vehicle phobia with effort. "Now why would you want to do that? What's in it for you?" She questioned bluntly knowing Hephaestus did not really have her best interests at heart. Every god reared on Olympus was a self serving bastard. Her "Uncle Henry" was no exception. He was up to something.

"Must I have a reason to save my favorite niece?" His velvety smooth voice rose in mock indignation.

Isabella gave him a flat look.

Hephaestus sighed grumbling about stubborn children. "Look Isabella I hold your father in the highest regard. You mean the world to him. All of his children do. That's your only saving grace at the moment because right now Zeus wants you dead. That stunt you pulled with the fates has everyone scared. Helios cannot protect you, and right now you are so very vulnerable. There's a chance you will die little Heliades even with my help."

Pain, unfathomable and devastating laced through Isabella like a typhoon. She screwed up-royally, and now her world was crumbling around her. Her banishment was horrific enough. Now she was branded for death, with ancient Greek gods ready to destroy her at any given moment.

She cradled her head in her hands.

Hephaestus was the only thing standing between her and a horribly graphic death.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?" She whispered brokenly, her hands clenching into shaking fists.

His intense gaze softened inexplicably and the car came to a shaky stop as he pulled over on the side of the road. Sympathy and something akin to grief glimmered in his eyes as he talked to her. "Little firebrand I may not be able to turn back time, or stop the wheels of fate, but perhaps I can determine how much blood his shed in this upcoming skirmish."

"Blood?" Isabella echoed dully, her eyes widening in surprise. What was he talking about? Her actions had nothing to do with battle or war. At her shell shocked expression he frowned, studying her face with some derision.

"You don't even know do you?" He questioned finally after a moment, his voice taking on a resigned-hushed tone. "You haven no idea why you're being hunted." He clarified after a second of very informative silence. Isabella could not find the words to reply. She knew why she was banished, she had interfered with fate-changed the order of the universe and deserved to be punished for it-she deserved to die for it.

Hephaestus was talking about something else entirely.

At her incredulous expression, he pressed on with a sigh. "Isabella you changed our fate-the fate of the divine. You're meant to bring in the new generation of deities, and Zeus is going to do everything in his power to make sure you're not alive to usurp him."

Silence.

Dead silence seeped into every crevice of the car, slipping effortlessly into the leather, and embracing Isabella tight enough to choke her. She paled considerably, her mouth dropping open. "You're lying." The accusatory words bubbled forth before she could stop them.

She didn't want to believe him. He could not be telling the truth. Her karma was not bad enough to where her actions would single handedly disrupt the balance of Olympus and create a power struggle unlike any seen in the last thousand years. The truth was harsh, and cold-not to mention completely unnecessary. Personally Isabella preferred lies. They didn't ruin her chance of living a normal healthy unhunted human life.

"I wish." He shrugged nonchalantly, confirming her worst fears. His apathy meant this was no longer a game-at least not for her.

"Oh hell." Isabella grumbled, biting back more colorful responses with effort. "I can't believe…This is insane…" She trailed off, threading her fingers through her hair-a very human gesture that her father had done a million times before in her presence. "I didn't mean to change the gods' fate." She murmured quietly, hanging her head low.

Hephaestus quirked a slender eyebrow at her, "What exactly did you plan to do?"

Isabella closed her eyes as an almost physical pain shot through her. She refused to answer that question. Her reasons no longer mattered. Nothing worked out the way she had planned. She gambled, and like a complete moron lost everything. Her incompetence was astounding.

"It doesn't matter." She replied wearily, burying her self-pity before it could consume her. "Nothing matters anymore." She concluded, gazing quietly out of the window. A cold feeling began to emerge in the pit of her stomach, writhing until it froze over into an icy numbness. Isabella submerged herself into that feeling-embracing it. She didn't want to feel anything anymore.

It hurt too much.

"Isabella." Her head turned ever so slightly as she once again met the concerned gaze of Hephaestus. "Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis."*A fraction of his power ghosted over her, soothing her and enraging her at the same time as she mentally dissected his words.

_All things change, and we change with them. _

His ominous words terrified her into dumbfounded silence. The full gravity of the situation was finally dawning on her.

_There's a chance you will die little Heliades even with my help._

His words from before haunted her, creeping to the fore front of her mind and dominating her thoughts. After ruminating over her situation Isabella came to one definite conclusion.

I might not survive.

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After that lovely conversation, the long and exceedingly boring car ride resumed. Hepheastus took the opportunity at every red light to sneak concerned glances at Isabella. She was resolute in her silence. Not one word escaped from her lips. Not one breath was taken without effort. Her normally expressive eyes were dull with anger, and pain. For the first time in all his years the god of weaponry was at a loss at what to say. No words would alleviate the agony Isabella was experiencing right now.

He could not imagine being in her situation.

Powerless. Weak. Forced to rely on strangers for help.

It was every gods nightmare.

"Where are we going?"

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the tense silence was broken. "I'm taking you to another state. You landed on the border of Texas and that little Heliades is far too close to your father's realm. He has an unusual connection with places that have sunny weather. He is attuned to them and will be able to sense you. It's not safe. Temporarily I'm going to move you to Washington-just until I can find another place to hide you."

"Fantastic." Was the curt response he received. Hepheastus glanced over at the fallen goddess for the fifty seventh time that night and almost winced at her expression. Isabella looked grim, her face creased with worry. She didn't look thrilled to be going to a place without sunlight. It might have been kinder to just carve her heart out with a spoon. A Heliades without sun was like a fish without water. They didn't adapt well.

"I'm sorry." He murmured quietly. It was the only real consolation he could give. No matter how much it hurt, Isabella was going to have to suck it up in order to survive. She could grieve later. Her expression didn't change at his apology-she simply nodded in acknowledgement and continued staring stoically out of the window.

"How long until we get there?"

Hephaestus hummed in thought, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel. "8-9 hours if I keep driving illegally." He responded with a smile after calculating where they were on the freeway. The time would pass in a blink of an eye. Eight or nine hours was nothing to him. To Isabella's now human mind it would seem like an eternity though.

As if to emphasize his point, his wayward niece heaved a long heartfelt sigh and fell silent. He had a feeling it was going to be a quiet drive from that point on. Isabella was now doubt torturing herself with "what ifs" and "whys" and other equally pointless musings. Whatever possessed her to irreparably damage fate was no longer driving her. Now she was just lost, confused, and terrified. As she should be, as a former goddess branded for death-she had every right to be scared.

In any other circumstance it would be warranted too.

However, the fates don't lie, and no matter what Zeus said you can't defy them. You can't run from them either. Inevitably, fate finds you and elevates you or completely destroys you. Isabella was meant to bring about destruction.

Hepheastus wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

In order to do that he had to mold Isabella into something soft-something incapable of killing in cold blood. She had over a millennia of experience guiding her but she was not battle hardened like the rest of the gods on Olympus.

She was still young, impressionable, and oh-so-naïve.

He loved that. Maybe he couldn't defy fate but he might be able to curb it a little. Zeus' half assed plan to push Isabella over the edge might very well lead to their end. Unless the thunder god succeeded in completely annihilating her then he was placing every deity in danger. It was better to manipulate Isabella. He could instill her with human morals and values, fuel her dreams, vitalize her desires-turn her into a true mortal.

She would be an idealistic fool by the time he was done.

Any god would appreciate that. They could _use_ that.

His lips twitched upwards as his eyes strayed to the passenger seat where Isabella had dozed off. Ignorant child.

_Sleep well my little mortal._

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9 hours later….

"Isabella. Isabella. Isabella. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Izzy. Belly. Belly. Belly. . Bells. Bella Bella Bella Bella Bella Bellaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaa."

One eye peeled open as Isabella fought the urge to brutally murder whoever was waking her up. A sudden graphic image of her shoving her hand down their throat to strangle them with their intestines whisked across her mind-rousing her to the waking world. She turned to the source of the noise, her "Uncle Henry," and asked in the calmest voice she could muster.

"WHAT?"

At her infuriated response he grinned innocently, even going so far as to chuckle. "I had to wake you up because we're here." He smirked, moving his perfect face back so she could see outside his window.

Isabella blinked, inching closer to him so she could peer out of the glass. He accommodated her by shuffling back so more so she wouldn't have to straddle him to see outside of the window. Beyond the stopped car was a small two story building. It was nothing spectacular just a simple house made out of wood with a few sparse shrubs on the lawn, and a long lonely driveway. It was practically a hovel compared to where she used to live. It lacked all the glory and unadulterated beauty of Olympus-Disappointment crashed over Isabella like a cold wave. She had no desire to stay here.

"Where is here again?" She asked, her nose wrinkling in distaste.

At her disgusted expression Hephaestus seemed to grow even more amused, and had to clear his throat to keep from laughing. "We my lovely little niece-are in the town of Fork's Washington. I decided to shack you up with a distant relative of yours."

"Who?" She asked, apprehension coloring her face. "I thought we were avoiding my family."

"We are." Hepheastus' grins widened, and all of the sudden Isabella knew she was not going to like what he had to say next. He seemed find great pleasure in annoying her. "We're avoiding the family on your father's side. Your mother's family on the other hand…." He trailed off his eyes twinkling with undisguised mirth.

"You've got to be kidding me." Isabella groaned, and she let her head fall with a loud crack against the dashboard. "My mother HATES me." She complained, irritated with how her voice begin to disintegrate into a whine with every word.

"Oh Isabella she doesn't hate you.." Hephaestus crowed, patting her back with a hand.

The former goddess sat up abruptly, fighting the urge to slam her head against the dashboard again and glared daggers at Hephaestus. "First of all…don't touch me." She warned glaring at the offending hand like she planned to rip it off and beat him with it. "And secondly, you don't know my mother. Last time I talked to her she told me I was disgrace, and she should really just do my father a favor and end my pitiful existence."

Hephaestus blinked once.

Twice.

Than a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Well…It would have saved a lot of trouble." He admitted with a small half smile, before a low wolf whistle left his lips. "I thought Clymene* was the good one out of your parents. Well not good but more behaved than your father anyways…Then again she is the goddess of vengeance." He muttered to himself shaking his head.

Isabella rolled her eyes. "That should tell you something."

"Touche." He nodded sagely than with a small click unlocked the car doors. "But disregarding your mommy issues, this is one of Clymene's many illegitimate children scattered across the globe. A half-sister of yours-she will keep you hidden and safe for the time being until I figure out where to place you."

"She's trustworthy?"

This time the smile directed her way was purely predatory. His perfect white teeth flashed at her and Isabella winced. "Silly child. Are any of us trustworthy?"

The resounding "no" in her mind was not reassuring. Isabella really couldn't afford to trust anyone. She knew Hephaestus was using her. She knew if the chance arose and she became a liability he would try to kill her without a second thought. She also knew that all the gods' were in this for personal gain. No one really cared what happened to the end they just wanted to be the one pulling her strings and making her dance. Her half-sister would probably be the same way.

"Candor dat viribus alas. Dum spiro, spero"*

Hephaestus quirked an eyebrow at her soft spoken words, his eyes ablaze with wonder and something resembling grief. "Hope is a dangerous thing for you Isabella."

"It's one of the few things I've got left." She said despondently, shifting in her seat.

He was silent for a minute letting her words settle in the air between them. The finality of the moment was not escaping anyone. Than his ancient gaze fell upon her and more words in their native tongue caressed her senses. "Faber est quisque fortunae suae. Durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis."*

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion as he presented her with a paradox.

"What are you talking about? Every man is the architect of his own fortune…If that were the case I wouldn't be in this situation." She lamented, a dead pan expression on her face.

"I know…the lie sounded nice though right?" He grinned cheekily at having successfully removed all the tension in the air. Why a powerful deity insisted on being an overgrown man-child was beyond her.

Isabella scowled at him. "Get out of the car."

He dipped his head respectfully at her-still grinning. "Yes ma'am." He pushed the car door open, slipping out into the driveway. Isabella followed suit a permanent frown etched on her face. She was not looking forward to this meeting. The last two days had been exhausting for her. Meeting one of her mother's demon children was the last thing she wanted to do. Carelessly Isabella slammed the door to the Lamborghini and walked around the car to stand next to her Uncle Henry.

"You ready to meet your sister Angela?"

"Half-sister." She corrected, glaring at him. "Let's get this over with."

Side-by-side they glided up the driveway, stopping in front of a heavy wooden door. Isabella raised one hand to knock but Hepheastus lazily waved her away. He reached out with one humongous hand and pressed a button that had been obscured from her view.

A sound resembling a bell made her jump.

"What in the seven hells was that?"

Hephastus sent her a very patient look that made her want to punch him in the face. "That my dear…was a doorbell. It announces to the people inside that we are here." He explained slowly like she was an ignorant child…or a mental patient. She hated when people treated her like that. Better be glad she had no control over her flames right now…or there would be a very barbecued Hephaestus standing next to her.

Isabella was distracted from her violent musings when a strangled curse resounded from inside the house-which was soon followed by a crash.

A few seconds later the door was yanked open and young woman with dark obsidian eyes answered the door. At first glance it was clear to see that the female was of Asian descent. Further inspection told Isabella a few other key things. One this young woman had to be Angela. She was wearing a coat of some kind with an A embroidered on the front. She was slender and lean and looked to be around Isabella's age. She was very pretty but was not on the same level as a goddess, so Angela had to be demi-god of some sort. All this Isabella absorbed in a couple of seconds while Angela stood there, glaring at her and Hephaestus for intruding on her property.

"Can I help you?" Angela sighed crossing her arms across her chest.

Hepheastus cleared his throat awkwardly as the young Asian woman leant against the door frame to wait for an explanation.

"Yes. I'm a…friend of your mothers. My name is Henry and this is Isabella. I'd like to ask a favor of you Angela."

Angela stiffened, and her whole face seemed to twitch. "My mother?" She echoed disbelievingly. Her half-sister's face melted into a blank mask as she re-examined the people standing on her porch. Isabella could see the gears turning in her head and almost grinned when Angela finally seemed to have an epiphany. "Oh son of a bitch…" Angela groaned, an exasperated look marring her face. "You two aren't human are you?"

"Nope." Hepheastus said in a voice that was far too chipper.

Angela grimaced, probably wishing she had left the door locked. Isabella understood her pain-all too well. With all the reluctance in the world Angela slowly stepped back from the door leaving room for her and Hepheastus enter. "Why don't you come in?" Her half-sister offered with a smile that was nowhere near her eyes.

"Gladly. Come Isabella." Hephaestus swept into the house leaving Isabella outside with Angela for a brief moment. They shared a pained glance.

"Sorry?" Isabella offered weakly.

Angela just shook her head, a dramatic sigh leaving her lips. "It was bound to happen eventually. I don't like getting caught up in divine bullshit so naturally it was gonna end up at my door. I must have been a really bad person in a past life." Her half-sister demurred shaking her head. "I'm guessing I'm not gonna like whatever _Henry_ has to say?" She asked after a moment of thought.

"Probably not." Isabella said, a sympathetic look replacing her normal stoic expression.

"Credo quia absurdum est. ab asino lanam." Angela cursed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. More than a little pissed off Angela stalked inside still muttering under her breath. Isabella gaped at her half-sister's knowledge of Latin, and Latin vulgarity. A real smile lit up her face as she trailed her sibling into the house.

Maybe just maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

**cras credemus, hodie nihil**

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**Okay what did you all think? Yes..no? XD Leave some thoughts. Next chapter will be out soon.**

**Latin terms and Greek people~**

"**Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis."* Means "All things change. We must change with them.**

**Clymene*-Clymene is not a prominent figure at all o.o...She wasn't even a goddess. Different records have her as a nymph of some kind or as a human. In this story I'm making her a goddess because well it just makes the plot smoother that way. XD**

"**Candor dat viribus alas. Dum spiro, spero"* Means Sincerity gives wings to strength. While there's life there's hope.**

"**Faber est quisque fortunae suae. Durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis."* Means Every man is the architect of his own fortune. Carry on and preserve yourself for better times.**

"**Credo quia absurdum est. ab asino lanam."* Means I believe It because it is absurd. Like getting wool from an ass.**

**cras credemus, hodie nihil * Means tomorrow we believe but not today.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hehe Okay new chapter. Sorry bout the wait…these take a long time to research longer to write and even longer to edit. I'm not so sure about this chapter but…yeah work with me:3 Thank you to everyone who reviewed.**

**IBeezeChantal-haha thank you. You're review made me laugh XD This story isn't as…romantic as the other twilight stories. I don't think it will catch on the same way.**

**Artapdrsktr-No worries. I didn't take your comment the wrong way at all. I was just having issues responding because any off the wall characters or plot issues were created on a whim…or on accident lol either one XD and Tanya is coming soon. Hopefully chapter 5 or 6.**

**Beishiznit-You're right Hephaestus is hopelessly biased, and completely off base in his assumptions about Isabella. It's his superiority talking not his actual logic.^^ You also aren't that far off point with Ares either. I can promise this story won't take place in Forks and you won't be introduced to Mike Newton…ever :3 Everything else you guessed on or predicted left me pondering new directions for this story, but for the most part I think you'll enjoy what's gonna happen. Thanks for your thoughts^^**

**Okay then Read and enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 3~**

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Zeus thundered, his deep baritone shaking the clearing. He must have scared off any prey for miles because after his furious roar the forest seemed to still. The leaves refused to rustle in unison with the wind, the animals refused to peek out from their sanctuaries. Nature itself seemed to bow down to his rage. His fellow gods however did not, and that only infuriated him more. Idly he could sense his son's amusement from the shadows behind him, but he ignored him with effort. He pivoted on his heel glaring ominously at the female in front of him.

Artemis-goddess of the wilderness and the hunt didn't even have the grace to flinch. Her cursory inspection of the clearing came to a reluctant halt as she focused her attention on the pissed off thunder god. She quirked one perfect eyebrow. "Isabella is long gone." She commented wryly shaking her head.

Zeus seethed, his temper flaring dangerously. "Obviously." He ground out through clenched teeth. "I'm asking you to find her. She must have left a trail, and tracking is second nature to you. Find Isabella."

Artemis' blank expression did not change. It never did. It took a lot to annoy Helios' sister, and even more to intrigue her. She was not emotionally attuned to people anymore and was a master at distancing herself from a situation. She appreciated logic. Logic didn't require emotion so she never expressed herself unless the situation called for it. Zeus' fury barely registered to her. She didn't care how ridiculously angry the thunder god was. His tumultuous moods didn't even phase her.

"I can tell you where her trail starts, and I can tell you where it ends. The trees in this clearing have been decimated by her fall. It looks like she stumbled onto the road due east of here. Someone must have seen her. If I had to guess she's probably at a hospital by now. If she's not at a hospital she might be dead. If I'm wrong on both fronts than she's no longer in this state and is no doubt being dragged around by Hephaestus." She concluded, her voice droning on in monotone.

"Looks like we just missed her…How unfortunate." Ares commented boredly, his disembodied voice resonating from the shadows. The god of war had been quiet while Artemis examined the clearing only breaking the silence to make sarcastic remarks every now and then. He was even less concerned than Artemis over Isabella's whereabouts.

He treasured bad situations. They amused him.

Zeus looked like he was counting to ten, before he turned his molten gaze on Ares, and barely contained rage made his voice tremble. "You think this is funny don't you?"

"Hilarious." The god of war responded without missing a beat. Ares with all the grace of jungle cat left his leisurely position against a tree, stepping out from the shadows. He met Zeus' intense glare with one of his own. "What exactly did you expect?"

"Oh I don't know…A little common courtesy, perhaps a little assistance in preventing our demise." Zeus growled, his eyes flashing in annoyance. He was rightfully upset that so little effort was being exerted over tracking down Isabella. She held the key to their future, and Ares was not taking this hunt seriously. Neither was Artemis for that matter, but the stoic goddess was harder to read. She had been a shell of a person for many centuries now ever since *Orion's death, and her enigmatic behavior left everyone around her hopelessly confused. Most people who came across Artemis were more than confused-they were perturbed. No one knew her intentions. No one knew what she was plotting.

Zeus needed to be wary of her.

Ares loud raucous laughter ripped him from his musings.

"Zeus, perhaps you didn't know but I don't care if we all die tomorrow." Ares said dissolving into quiet chuckles. He crossed his arms over his chest as an amused smirk lined his perfect lips. "All I want is to see people clashing in mid-air and ripping each other to pieces. I want a battle and dismembered body parts flying everywhere."

Ares threw back his head, his gaze trailing to blood rimmed sky. Crimson tears splashed the horizon as Helios dragged the sun out of sight. His eyes smoldered, reflecting the last of the sun's rays. "I want to see the ground soaked red." He trailed off quietly shaking his head, and turned to leave.

Clearly Ares was fed up with his present company. Or perhaps he needed to soothe the psychotic rage that was welling up in his chest. Before the god of war allowed the darkness to consume him, he paused turning to Zeus. "Everyone is picking a side in this little debacle. You want to destroy Isabella. Hephaestus and Helios want to save her." Zeus suddenly felt the temperature in the clearing drop several degrees. Ares lips turned upward into a small all knowing grin.."I want to people to die. Gloriously. Beautifully. Swimming in their own blood. I will support whatever side can give me that." The god of war surmised with a nod as Zeus eyed him with annoyance and some revulsion.

"Till we meet again father." Ares smirked disappearing into the mounting twilight. "Farewell Artemis." His melodious voice called out before fading entirely from existence.

Artemis stood alone with a fuming Zeus now.

"The god of war indeed." She said tentatively, her chilly gaze still fixed on the spot where Ares had stood a second ago.

Zeus scowled. "His stupidity knows no bounds. I'm trying to prevent a war, and he's trying to start a blood bath. This whole thing has been a disaster from the very beginning." The thunder god rolled his eyes, his eyes flicking furtively around the destroyed clearing. Something had to be done. "It's time to take drastic measures." He decided his voice brooking no room for argument.

Artemis hefted her bow further up on her shoulder, her fingers reaching up to lovingly caress one of her arrows. "What constitutes as drastic measures?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in calculation.

"Isabella wants to hide…Fine. She can, but not for long. You will find her and when you do I will be sending her a little gift. I'm going to end this." He smirked, a cold smile stretching over his lips. Artemis almost flinched at his sinister expression. It amazed her how callous her fellow deities could be sometimes.

"What type of gift?" Artemis asked cautiously, measuring how insidious Zeus' plot would be. Her expression never wavered but her grip did tighten around her bow.

"The best kind…*Nemo me impune lacessit." Zeus' voice lowered an octave, dropping in conjunction with his thunder god's patience had been hanging on by a very thin thread since Isabella's banishment. Ares had incinerated what little patience remained. Now Zeus wanted results. He wanted this nightmare to be over. He wanted Isabella's head on a platter.

"I doubt Isabella was trying to provoke you." Artemis murmured, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "If you do anything rash, Helios will be furious."

Zeus in response to her words, let out a very humanlike snort. Clearly he didn't care about Helios' reaction. Helios had a million other kids-if Isabella's impending doom bothered him that much than he could have one of his other kids replace her after she died. It was like recycling. Throw one out and reuse what's left. Easy. Simple. Even the humans did it but with plastic and paper not people.

"Helios will get over it, and if he doesn't then he can wallow in self pity for the next thousand years. I don't care. It is not his place to question me. I rule the heavens. He will abide by my decision or I will strike him down." Zeus promised boldly, his expression darkening. This was not a democracy. The gods did not operate by human standards. No one held more authority than him, and he would not tolerate defiance from anyone-man or god.

Helios would obey or he would be removed from the picture entirely.

Impudence, treachery, and defiance were all worthy of torture beyond comprehension. Helios would be on *Prometheus' level of betrayal and would be subject to a similar punishment.

Perhaps Hera was right. Zeus conceded after an arduous amount of thought. Perhaps they should eliminate the entire Heliades line.

Helios and his kids were a giant pain in the ass.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"So…let me get this straight." Angela sat back in her chair, her incredulous expression deepening with each word. "Isabella is one of Helios' crazy adrenaline junkie children. She single handedly disrupted fate, and pissed off every god on Olympus. Zeus threw a lightning infested temper tantrum from hell, and chucked her into a giant Isabella shaped crater. She ended up in the hospital and you tracked her down." Dark accusing eyes trailed to Hephaestus. "Then in all your brilliance you brought Isabella here…to MY house." Angela stated in an eerily calm tone-the same tone that most people use before they backhand someone into a wall.

"That just about sums it up." Hephaestus nodded solemnly, his eyes twinkling in merriment. Isabella winced at her half sister's flat expression. Clearly Angela was not amused. Why would she be? What sane person would get excited about having a branded fugitive in their house?

"Why come here? Out of all the places in the world why would you bring her here? No offense Isabella." Angela's head dipped in apology before she turned back to Henry glowering a bit.

Hephaestus held up his hands in a placating gesture, trying to look innocent and failing miserably. "My hands were tied. I needed to take Isabella somewhere where the gods rarely look, and I needed to leave her with someone trustworthy who did not have some hidden agenda. You're one of the most trustworthy Halflings I know Angela." He tried to argue, doing everything humanly possible to convince Angela to harbor her sister.

"It's only tempora-"

"No."

"Just for a little while till I figure out where to hide-"

"No."

"We need someone with your honesty-"

Angela's perplexed expression did not change, but a dark scowl marred her features further. "I don't care if I'm the last fucking honest person in existence. I don't want to get caught up in this. Whatever this is" She gestured wildly between her and her unwanted house guests. "Leave me out of it. I'm not interested in getting dragged into some crazy divine scandal, and becoming another pawn in your games." She all but hissed, her hands clenching into trembling fists.

Hepheastus was stunned to silence for a few seconds, and Isabella sat back as the beginnings of guilt began to prick at her consciousness. The fallen goddess stood up her chair screeching slightly at the motion. "We should leave." She said quietly to Hephaestus.

Isabella could not even find the energy to be angry at Angela. She felt the exact same way. Legends exaggerated the beauty, glory, and wonder of the gods. They left out their manipulative, self absorbed, fickle and insanely narcissistic nature. They didn't treasure humans they used them. Isabella did not want to be a toy anymore than Angela did. This mess was not her half-sister's problem. She was not going to involve Angela if she didn't have too.

"There's nowhere else for you to go." Hephaestus said, his demeanor loosing its playful edge as he chose to channel his serious side. "Angela." He turned solemn eyes towards the demi-goddess who was now listening attentively. "There is another reason I came to you with this."

"And that is?" Her half-sister prompted wearily.

"Blood is thicker than water. I can't leave Isabella with a complete stranger and you're her family."

"…Excuse me?" Angela's blinked in confusion and her eyes flicked sideways to meet Isabella's. The fallen goddess stood unbelievably still enduring her half-sisters scrutiny with a neutral expression. They didn't look related. Any fool could see that, but Angela seemed to be looking for similarities anyways.

"How exactly are we related?" Angela said after studying Isabella and finding nothing remotely familiar in her face.

"Isabella is the daughter of Helios…and Clymene." Hephaestus clarified with a slight almost imperceptible wince. No one really wanted to be related to Clymene. It was a miracle people chose to reproduce with her at all.

At his explanation Angela's jaw went slack. Clearly she was not expecting that. The Asian woman turned to Isabella drinking in her features with renewed vigor. "Clymene is your mother too?"

Isabella's face contorted. "Unfortunately."

"That changes everything." Angela sighed rubbing her temple. No doubt the utter ridiculousness of the situation was beginning to weigh in on her. At her exhausted tone Hephaestus perked up, looking marginally more optimistic than had a couple of seconds ago.

"You'll let Isabella stay with you then?"

"Uh no. Get the hell out of my house." Angela fired back, abruptly getting to her feet. Hephaestus all but fell out of his chair at her words-he was not expecting such blatant hostility. Angela was normally a genteel level headed woman. She was never rude like this. Precariously the god of weaponry slid out of his chair, fluidly getting to his feet. He towered over the two females in the room but his gaze never left Angela.

"Please Angela." He pleaded one last time, hoping she would change her mind.

"No." She responded negatively shaking her head.

Hephaestus grimaced at the ice in her voice. Clymene must be a sore spot for the demi-goddess to react like this. What in the world did that crazy ass goddess do to her kids? What was going to happen now? Hephaestus didn't really have a back up plan. Before he could brood on the situation any further Hephaestus found him and Isabella ushered towards the door. Once they had been herded towards the entrance they paused. Angela stood rigidly behind them-a stony expression on her face.

Uncertainty held the demi-goddess frozen in place. With some reluctance she turned to Isabella. "Look I'm sorry I can't help you."

A genuine smile graced Isabella's lips. "It's fine. If I were you I would have slammed the door in his face."

Curiosity and amusement replaced the glacier expression on Angela's face. "I was tempted."

"I bet."

Awkward silence settled between them, and Angela sent the people invading her home a few conspicuous glances. A minute crawled by. Then two. Then three. The Asian woman chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully before weary resignation caused her to slouch against the door frame. "Dammitttttttttttttt." She groaned face-palming. Her hand dragged down the side of her face in exasperation before falling limply to her side.

Isabella blinked in concern.

"…Are you okay?"

Instead of answering Angela turned to Hephaestus, accusingly, her entire posture coiled with tension. She looked like all she wanted to do is slowly choke the life out of him. Her hands twitched as if to emphasize that point. "You said this was temporary right?"

He looked like he wanted to victory dance. Unbridled joy lit up his face."Yes just a few weeks. You can teach her how to be disgustingly human while I find a place to store her where Zeus can't electrocute her."

"Wonderful." Angela sighed massaging her now throbbing temple again.

At her hesitant acquiescence Isabella held up a hand. "Wait wait wait..are you sure you want to do this?" She was grateful, but she wasn't going to involve Angela unless it was necessary. This whole banishment thing was going to get worse. Only the willing should subject themselves to this kind of masochistic hell.

"Yes I'm sure." Angela said, her face scrunching at the sincerity in her words. "Unlike the some of the other gods I've run into you don't come across as a self absorbed belligerent asshole. You don't seem like a bad person." Her half sister admitted quietly.

"You don't either." Isabella said, returning the compliment earnestly.

"Awwww. Look at you two-bonding already." Hephaestus cooed making an –oh-so-cute face that didn't match his giant bear like persona. Angela's amiable attitude withered at his mocking and she scowled.

"Shut. Up." She said coldly enunciating each word clearly. " Don't make me have to kill you. Who are you anyways…Henry?"

Hephaestus smirked and with a casual flick of his wrist the glamour coating him melted away. He lost his mortal appearance, and the whole room was filled with his presence. Gone was the streak of grey hair that masked his age. Gone was the roll of fat that marred his good looks-only perfection remained. Any one else would be awed at the transformation from middle-aged giant, to rugged extremely toned eye candy.

As it was Angela simply sighed and Isabella struggled to stifle a yawn.

"Lemme guess…Hephaestus?"

Offended by their indifferent reactions Hepheastus frowned, fighting back a very umanly pout. "That's me." He grumbled.

"Zeus' weapon smith and the god of volcanoes-you're not one of the normal meddlers. Since when do you leave Olympus? I thought that was your heavenly man cave or something. What exactly are you up too?" Angela mused out loud tapping her fingers against the wood of the door.

"The normal meddlers?" Hephaestus echoed with an amused grin before answering her question "You're right normally I never leave my station, but this situation was just so entertaining-not to mention pivotal to the gods continued existence. I decided it was time to get a bit more pro-active in the mortal world."

"So you made Isabella your own little project hrm." Angela surmised with a small plastic smile. Before Hephaestus could answer, or defend himself Angela surged forward running over whatever he was about to say. "Well I suppose it doesn't matter. Either way-Isabella." Angela turned to her half sister, her eyes softening a bit. "You're welcome to stay here till he moves you some place else."

Isabella who had fallen silent to observe her family tuned back into the conversation-focusing on Angela with a relieved smile. "Thank you Angela."

"No worries. It's the least I can do. After all-We are sisters." Angela chuckled.

"Beautiful Beautiful. So everything is taken care of here?" Hephaestus asked, his booming voice shaking the halls. He glanced from Isabella to her half sister expectantly. At seeing Angela's irritated expression he backpedaled stepping outside the entrance and into the driveway. "Well in that case Isabella I leave you in Angela's capable hands. Next time we meet I will have a new place for you to stay and whatever provisions you'll need to remain hidden."

He agilely leapt down the driveway like a cat and ambled down to his sports car.

Isabella and Angela simply watched him leave.

Before he could slide into the driver's seat though Angela's voice stopped him.

"Wait a minute!"

He froze tilting his head to listen. From her spot in the doorway Angela took a deep breath yelling out the issue that had been bothering her. "What am I supposed to do while she stays here?"

Hephaestus chuckled and called out in a loud voice. "Teach her how to survive as a human."

With that he hopped into the driver's seat of his Lamborghini, revved the engine twice, and was gone in cloud of spiraling dust.

Angela rolled her eyes as he sped off then glanced sideways at Isabella-at her new sibling. "Let's go inside and I will show you around…fucking gods and their fucking jedi mind tricks." She complained cursing Hephaestus to the tenth level of hell. As they reentered the house Isabella trailed slowly behind her, no doubt bewildered by recent events. Angela gently guided her half-sister far from the door leading her through the living room and towards the stairs.

All of the rooms were upstairs, and Isabella would be staying in the room across from her.

"Hey Angela."

"What's up?" Angela responded absentmindedly as she jogged up the creaky wooden steps. Isabella followed closely at her heels reminding her of a lost puppy.

"What's a jedi?" As they reached the top of the stairs Angela stopped moving causing Isabella to ram into her headfirst. They both toppled into the hallway, rolling into a wall. Angela groaned a bit, and disentangled herself from her clumsy sister. It took a minute to discern which limbs were hers and which were Isabellas.

As they found their footing Angela sent her half-sister a strange look. "You don't know what a jedi is?"

"No."

Angela's frown deepened. "Haven't you ever watched t.v.? You don't recognize Star Wars?" Isabella's confused expression didn't waver. If possible the fallen goddess looked even more perplexed than she did a second ago. Angela felt the beginnings of horror swell up inside her. "Oh c'mon. Obi wan Kanobi? Yoda? Annikan Skywalker? Luke I am your father."

Isabella's blank eyes stared back at her uncomprehendingly. "…What's a t.v?"

Angela almost cried. "You are so deprived. Where the hell have you been the last one hundred years?"

Isabella smirked tiredly. "I was busy."

"Doing what? Hiding under a rock?"

"No. I was trying to understand my father's trade. I was learning how to harness the power of the sun, and master my power over fire so I would not incinerate anyone or mistakenly use my power." Isabella explained eloquently.

Angela just stared at her.

"What?" Isabella questioned after enduring her sister's intense stare for several uncomfortable minutes.

"I definitely have my work cut out for me." Angela murmured shaking her head. At her exasperated words Isabella blinked in puppy-ish confusion. What did she do wrong now? At her clueless expression Angela giggled waving off the question with a hand.

"Don't worry about it Bella."

Isabella started at the shortening of her name. An unfortunate side effect of being a recluse for a millennia was the lack of friends. Her sisters barely even acknowledged her. No one had ever bothered giving her an affectionate nickname before. She kind of liked it. Bella…It rolled off the tongue a lot easier than Isabella. Lost in her musings she barely felt it when Angela pulled her forward.

"C'mon I'll show you to your room."

Bella allowed herself to be yanked forward, a small amused smile stretching over her lips.

"Whatever you say Angela."

* * *

***Est modus in rebus. est et fideli tuta silentio merces**

**Whoot. Okay chapter done. What do you all think? XD For some reason this chapter seemed…lacking to me. I dunno. I'll fix it later or maybe just make next chapter super amazing. Next chapter there's more Bella/Angela sister bonding moments as Angela teaches Bella how to be human- so be tuned in.**

**Greek People and Latin Terms~**

***Orion-This was Artemis' first and only true love. The records say either Artemis killed him out of jealousy/she was tricked into murdering him or he was stung by a scorpion which became Scorpio, and was elevated to the heavens. Orion is also a constellation.**

***Prometheus-This was one of my favorite gods. He was a trickster that stole the power of fire from Zeus and gave it to the human worlds. Zeus got pissed off and bound Prometheus to a rock. His punishment was that every day an eagle would fly down peck open his flesh and eat his liver. Every night his liver would grow back and the cycle would start all over again. Prometheus lived in agony like this till Hercules came and freed him.**

*** Nemo me impune lacessit means no one provokes me without impugnity**

***est modus in rebus. est et fideli tuta silentio merces means "There is a proper measure in things. Loyalty as its rewards secure."**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good Lord I'm tired and extremely sick. I'm sorry this is late and It doesn't have the plethora of information at the bottom like normal. I was too exhausted to write up everything, but yeah here's the new chapter. After this chapter the story will pick up a little and if this chapter was too vague don't worry next chapter will be more detailed and informative.**

**Okay other than that thanks to everyone who reviewed and enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4~**

"Okay this is where you're going to be staying. There's a bed here, a bathroom over there-a closet in the corner and I'm right down the hall. If you're hungry there's food downstairs in the kitchen and a t.v. in the living room if you get bored. Any questions?" Angela rambled gesturing animatedly as she talked. Bella watched with some amusement as her half-sister took a deep breath to steady herself. Breathe Angela breathe.

"No none for now." Bella lied shaking her head. In reality she had a million questions, but couldn't summon the nerve to voice them. Everything was foreign and new. Bella was ancient. She wasn't acclimated to the present. It would take her weeks to grasp basic human behavior and even longer to understand how much things had changed. She couldn't mask her ignorance forever but for now she would keep quiet. Her pride wouldn't allow her to willingly look stupid in front of someone else.

After her acknowledging her negative response Angela stood hovering uncertainly in the doorway.

Bella quirked an eyebrow at her. "Everything okay?"

"Not really no." Angela grimaced a bit and sent the fallen goddess a frustrated glance. "I think we need to talk Bella…"

She winced. That didn't sound good. The ominous _We need to talk_ discussion never boded well for anyone. Ever. Well no need to delay the inevitable-Bella rationalized sighing internally. Angela wanted to talk about something serious and Bella was not rude enough to ignore her wishes-not while she was being kind enough to let her stay in her house.

Resolving to bite the bullet Bella met Angela's gaze evenly. "About what?"

"Hephaestus left out some things didn't he?" Her half-sister asked bluntly, her eyes hardening. Already accustomed to seeing Angela's easy going smile after just a few minutes she wasn't prepared for her to switch gears and all but snarl at her . Blind sided by her sibling's sudden change in demeanor Bella blinked warily as Angela became increasingly tense.

"What do you mean?"

"Bella what exactly did you do that has the gods so angry?"

Bella blinked-Her brow knitting together at the question. They already explained why the gods were infuriated. Why was Angela asking again? Out of habit her fingers combed through her silky tresses-a calming gesture that gave her time to reply.

"I disrupted fate so they-"

"No Bella." Angela cut her off with an impatient wave of her hand. "I'm asking what you did. How did you change fate? What is their future now?" Her half sister clarified her steely gaze never leaving Isabella's face.

Understanding caused Bella to stiffen. Angela wanted to know why the gods were terrified. It was a delicate question. She wasn't sure how to respond. How would Angela react? What would she do with the information? Knowledge was power. In this case it was also dangerous. With effort Bella masked her anxiety. Ignorance was also dangerous. Keeping Angela in the dark like a child wouldn't help things either.

"I'm meant to start a war, and dismantle Olympus." She explained quietly. "Supposedly I'm going to usher in a new era of gods."

Angela became very still, and several emotions flitted across her face: Shock, fear, horror, anger, concern, and finally worry. "Wow." Her sister breathed, a pained expression crossing her face. Angela looked considerably paler than she had a couple of seconds ago. "Bella I mean…Damn-that's huge. No wonder the gods are after you." Angela sat back sluggishly against the wall, unable to support herself at the moment. Bella followed suit and sat down on the bed. An uneasy silence fell between them and Bella began to fiddle nervously with her fingers. After fighting back the shell shock her half-sister grinned weakly. "Zeus must be pissed."

Understatement of the century.

Bella snorted. "He's…not happy."

"He's never happy with the Heliades line. No one is…You're all bat shit crazy."

"Bat shit crazy?" Bella echoed the words in confusion-arching one slender eyebrow. She was having serious problems understanding the complicated vernacular of this era or it could just be her half-sister. Angela's comments always left her scratching her head. This time however she could feel the tension dissipating and sent her half sister a grateful look. "We're not crazy just excessively unique."

"Is that code for excessively stupid?" Angela teased gently, her good humor returning.

Bella placed a hand over her heart, feigning extreme pain. "You wound me sister.""

The demi-goddess shook her head. "Half sister." Angela corrected, mirth shining in her eyes. "And I'll try to be nicer. I would hate for you to break down into tears."

"That is highly unlikely." Bella snorted shaking her head.

It was unbelievable how well she and Angela seemed to get along. Bella wasn't fond of strangers, gods, hell people in general annoyed her but something about Angela intrigued her. Her half sister was an enigma. Overall she seemed nice, honest and even a bit shy but there was an intensity to her that clearly marked her as not human. One moment she was sarcastic and amused the next she was cold and unrelenting. She clearly didn't want anything to do with the divine but she was letting Isabella stay in her house. The demigoddess was a paradox. Her eyes raked over the young woman standing across from her-studying her. Bella was still wary of her but she wanted to trust her. Badly. It was exhausting having no one to rely one but herself. Hephaestus was a manipulative war monger. She couldn't trust him. The other gods were also just using her for personal gain or trying to kill her. None of them could be trusted. Could she trust Angela though? Her half sister who had been leaning comfortably against the wall now stood up a thoughtful expression crossing her face.

"Bella, not to sound rude or invasive or anything but you've been here for the past thirty minutes and I can't really see you as a threat. How dangerous are you?"

The question threw her off guard and Bella did a double take. She didn't look dangerous? Porcupines don't look dangerous either until someone gets stabbed in the eye. Skunks don't look lethal until you're stuck soaking in tomato juice for 48 hours. Not dangerous…pfft. An amused smile tugged on her lips. "Well I was a third generation goddess so I have almost two thousand years of experience behind me. I spent a lot of that time training with my father Helios so I'd say I'm relatively dangerous"

Angela gaped at her imitating a fish. A strangle sound escaped her. "You're almost two thousand years old?"

Bella giggled at the shocked look being sent her way. "Yes." She managed to reply between laughs.

"Holy shit." Angela breathed stumbling back-Bella shot up from the bed and reached out to steady her half-sister with a hand. Shakily Angela accepted the help still staring at her with wide disbelieving eyes.

"Are you alright?"

Angela looked completely stupefied. "No I mean…How? What the fuck?" Her half-sister complained after trying to absorb this new information unsuccessfully. "I mean- I expect Zeus and Hera and Hades to be that old, but you said you were a third generation goddess. You're from MY generation, and I'm nowhere near that age."

"How old are you?" Bella asked curiously leading Angela to the bed so they could both sit down. Docilely her shell shocked sibling allowed herself to be seated still looking incredulous.

"I'm 120." Angela murmured lightly shaking her head.

Bella couldn't help the low wolf whistle that escaped her lips. "Wowwwwww. You're a child." She chuckled.

Angela rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to smile. "No you're just ridiculously old. "

"And I aged like a fine wine." Bella smirked gesturing to herself. Angela quirked an eyebrow, silently appraising her. Bella fought the urge to fidget when those eyes roamed up and down her body lingering on her face. After studying her-Her half sister sighed shaking her head.

"So you're not completely different from the other gods I've met. You're definitely vain like the rest of them." Angela mused dryily.

Bella frowned at the dry comment. She couldn't dispute it because it was true-all the gods were vain. It was a divine failing. However being compared to the rest of her peers, and relatives bothered her. Angela obviously didn't hold the gods of Olympus in high regard. Being placed in the same category as them left her feeling uncomfortable and vaguely offended.

"You could say that." She said neutrally with a careless shrug for good measure.

There was no point in getting worked up for nothing. Angela wasn't being insulting-just insightful. Brutally honest people were rare nowadays. Sometimes the truth was just hard to swallow.

"So if you have almost two thousand years of experience that means you would know some interesting things about history right?"

Angela asked trying to appear uninterested in her answer but failing miserably. Obviously Angela craved knowledge-she would want to know some of the more intricate details of the past. Bella could easily picture her half-sister as a scholar of some sort. Angela was somewhat fluent in Latin so clearly she was educated, but she was also young. History was just a book for her.

Bella had lived it.

Well..for the first thousand years or so she did-before she fell into training.

Crossing her legs Indian style to get more comfortable Bella smiled indulgently. Mentally she prepared for story time. "You could say that." She repeated her uninformative reply from earlier.

Unimpressed with her generic response Angela glowered at her. "Well? C'mon you must have a cool story or two. Are any of the old legends true? What about Odysseus? And Dante? Or Gilgamesh? Wait-Did Arthur exist? And Merlin?-"

Bella clamped a hand over Angela's mouth to stop the flood of questions. She was expecting for one or two-not a whole barrage to come barreling out of Angela's mouth. Even with Bella's hand muffling her, the inquisitive woman was still struggling to speak. The fallen goddess shook her head.

"Okay let's try this again. Ask me the first thing again, and I'll answer you. One question at time not ten." She removed her hand ignoring Angela's glare. "M'kay?"

Chagrined her sister nodded and repeated her first question. "Odysseus?"

"What about him?"

"Is his story true?" Angela asked fervently trying not to get frustrated. Bella noted her growing ire with some amusement and wondered if she should torture her with non answers some more. The idea was so appealing but…

Deciding not to annoy her hostess, Bella filed through her thoughts trying to determine how much she knew about Odysseus. If she remembered correctly he was part of the Trojan war, and the gods took great pleasure in ruining his life and delaying him from getting home. Unfortunately besides that she knew almost nothing about him. The Trojan war was before her time.

"Sorry." She shrugged. "I was too young to remember the finer details of that time. I wasn't paying attention to the human world when I was a small child so I don't remember Odysseus." She admitted ruefully.

"And Dante?"

Bella stared at her blankly.

Angela groaned in exasperation and cradled her head. "Dante? Dante's inferno? Divine Comedy?" She elaborated and Bella hummed thoughtfully.

"That happened." She confirmed with a nod. "Divina Commedia." Bella said in flawless Italian. "It wasn't just a work of the muses. Dante literally journeyed through hell and survived thanks to Virgil. After traversing through Hades realm he escaped and with the luck of the gods got to Olympus. The muses only blessed him after he successfully conquered his demons."

"Were you there?"

Bella laughed musically shaking her head. "Are you kidding? No I wasn't there. I just heard about the aftermath because he was one of the few unlucky humans that caught Hades attention. Hades LOATHES him."

Angela chuckled softly shaking her head. "The Lord of the underworld loathing someone isn't exactly surprising."

"True." Bella agreed her eyes twinkling. "So any other questions?"

"Loads." Angela said unabashedly.

Inwardly Bella groaned. Why were humans so bloody curious about everything? The past is over. Things happened. Don't worry about the little details. As long as history doesn't repeat itself no one really needs to know the why's how's and when's. Let it go Angela. Let it gooooooooooooooo.

"Ask away." Bella said wearily.

"Actually I think I should save these questions for another time. It is getting late." Angela disagreed quietly looking out the window. Bella followed her gaze and noted the sun was gone. Helios had already dragged it across the sky and only darkness remained. Night time seemed to dampen the genial conversation they had going.

"That might be best." Bella smirked tiredly feeling her very human body begin to crave sleep.

Angela yawned a bit also starting to feel the effects from the long day. "Alright I'm going to go get ready for bed then. Remember if you get hungry there's food downstairs."

"Alright." Bella nodded as her half-sister slid off the bed.

As Angela headed for the door Bella allowed herself to fall back onto the bed.

"Oh and Bella one more thing." Angela paused at the door to look over her shoulder. "I have to go to school tomorrow so you'll be alone in the house for most of the day. Is that okay?"

Bella blinked sleepily. "Just perfect." She mumbled.

"Alright good night then..."

"Night."

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Morning came quickly. Bella never heard Angela leave. When she woke up the house was silent, and she was alone. For several minutes she just laid there in bed staring blankly at the ceiling. "I should probably get up." She thought out loud. Still her limbs refused to move and she laid there-inert on the bed.

Five minutes passed, then ten.

Finally Bella found the will to drag herself out from under the covers. She was insanely comfortable in bed but didn't want to lie there all day. Angela mentioned food in the kitchen and she hadn't eaten in 48 hours. She needed sustenance than she could go back to sleep.

Slowly with some trepidation Bella crept down the stairs almost expecting to find someone waiting in the living room for her.

No one was there.

"Lovely." She sighed, annoyed with her self. She hated baseless fears.

The human world was turning her into a nut case. Paranoia was the last thing she needed right now.

After rounding the corner and walking to the kitchen she cracked open the fridge. Her eyes roved over its contents. . She couldn't recognize anything. Not one thing looked edible. Really. After glaring at the fridge for ten minutes she grunted and slammed the door shut."You've got to be kidding me…So I guess no food for me today then." She all but growled resigning herself to starve.

If the gods didn't kill her the lack of food would.

Anorexia yay!

It was always her dream to die because she was too ignorant to make food.

Bella quickly left the kitchen because being surrounded by food she couldn't eat was depressing. Her eyes flicked to the window noting the position of the sun. It had to be what? Nine-ten o clock in the morning. Angela said she would be gone for most of the day so she still had several hours to kill.

Ugh.

The universe must really hate her.

She needed something to do that would kill a few hours till Angela got home. Her eyes trailed over the living room again and this time they landed on a book case. Bingo. Bella smirked trotting over to the other side of the room. Her eyes roved over the books, and the long elegant spines, skimming over the titles.

"What the…"

Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Santa Olivia, Mortal Coils, A Companion to Wolves, The Sight, Firebringer, Urban Shaman, Earth Logic, Fire Logic, Water Logic, and several other novels she didn't recognize. Bella blinked at the wide array of books. Clearly Angela loved literature, and from the look of it everything she read was fictional. How delightfully unoriginal-it was hard to believe Angela was 120 at this moment. These stories were juvenile at some derision Bella found herself reaching for the Fire Logic book. She needed something to do for the next several hours. A good book never hurt right?

Novel in hand Bella stalked over to the couch and plopped down like a very graceless sack of potatoes. Cautiously she flipped open the cover scanning the words held within. "Hrmmm…Sounds interesting enough." Without any further comments she began to read allowing herself to become engrossed in the novel.

One hour passed.

Then two.

Then five.

When the front door swung open and Angela walked in Bella had thirty pages left in her book. Without looking up from her page Bella greeted her half-sister. "Hey Angela welcome back, it was quiet with you gone. I decided to read to pass the time…Yunno I don't think this novel is very realistic. In real life Zanja would have left Karis because she was on drugs, and Karis would have hooked up with Norina."

Surprise colored Angela's face as she shut the door. "Thanks, and what the hell are you talking about?"

Bella held up the book she was reading. "Fire Logic."

This time a very different emotion made Angela's face color. "Erm." Her half-sister flushed. "I didn't know I still had that book."

"Why are you blushing?" Bella smirked knowingly. Angela was embarrassed. As far as Novels go Fire Logic was exceptional but what made it unique was the protagonists. They were both females and they were both in love with each other. It was not the type of novel she expected Angela to like.

"N-no reason." Angela coughed lamely.

"So it's not because of the girl action in this book?" Bella teased watching her half-sister shift uncomfortably.

"No! It's just.." Angela trailed off uncertainly unsure of how to finish her sentence. As much fun as it was to watch her squirm-Bella took pity on her and closed the book with a decisive snap. She wasn't about to poke at Angela's quiet reserved nature.

"Look Angela don't worry about it-alright?"

Her half sister grinned weakly. "Ha I suppose.

"Nooooooo." Bella looked at her strangely placing the book on the table and getting to her feet. "That book beat Sappho's works any day. I loved it-so really don't worry about it. I've had my share of experiences with both men and woman." Bella admitted with a shrug.

It was Angela's turn to look surprised.

"Really now?"

"Really Really." Bella drawled chuckling a bit. "What do you think that I've been celibate for all these years?"

"No-well maybe." Angela flushed again.

The fallen goddess giggled which made Angela scowl. "Shut up Izzyyyyyyy." At her half-sister's petulant expression Bella burst out laughing.

"As you wish, but only if you do one favor for me?"

Still pouting a bit Angela glowered at her. "What?"

Sniffling dramatically, Bella threw away the last shred of her dignity and did what no other god or goddess would dare to do-she begged. "Please feed me." She all but whined fighting the urge to break something when she was met by Angela's laughter.

"Sure old lady…sure."

Insolent brat.

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"Who called this meeting?"

"Are you fucking stupid? We cannot all be in the same place."

"We need to talk about this."

"All of you SHUT THE HELL UP."

The room quieted and all eyes turned to Athena's slender frame. She glared at each of the quarreling males in turn who flinched at her gaze. The goddess of wisdom and heroes took one calming breath before planting herself in a chair. "Alright look we're here to discuss how to keep Isabella alive. All of you know she hasn't done anything to warrant death yet and until she does I'm not deeming her a threat. Zeus is otherwise preoccupied explaining the situation to the other gods on Olympus which is the only reason we can meet like this in my quarters. All of you have voted for the underdog before so you're all considered trustworthy until further notice. Any questions?"

"We don't even know where she is." Helios pointed out glumly from his seat. The sun god did not even possess even half of his normal fire. It was as if the burden of losing a daughter had literally sucked the life from his once intimidating frame.

"Helios Hephaestus hid her." Athena reminded him gently and she gestured towards the left where the armament master was standing. "He will tell us where she is."

"Your daughter is safe Helios." Hephaestus deep baritone resonated throughout the room-reassuring the sun god.

"For now." Helios said bitterly.

"How long are you gonna mope like a bitch? Grow a spine Helios." Dionysius giggled burping a little. At his words the sun god shot up from his chair a murderous expression on his face. Athena groaned and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Relax. Ignore Dionysius you know better than to take him seriously." She murmured softly to the enraged sun god. Her gaze slanted to the pleasure god. "You are NOT helping." She hissed.

At her annoyed words the drunk god just shrugged giggling again and Athena rolled her eyes. "Anyways ignoring the male pissing contest going on-we need to decide how to keep Isabella alive. Zeus is no doubt sending people after her and we need to do more than just hide her."

Hephaestus nodded in agreement. "She's a human now so that complicates things. She's too vulnerable."

"But Zeus said she still had a fraction of her power right? So she's not completely helpless." Athena reasoned.

"That's enough for her to stand up to the supernatural in the human world but even against the weakest god Isabella wouldn't stand a chance." Hephaestus pointed out shaking his head solemnly.

Helios actually looked sick and Athena felt sympathy for the sun god before her. This discussion could not be easy for him. "She needs training." Helios whispered catching everyone's attention.

Athena had to acknowledge his words. She could see the logic. Power was great. Power with training was even better. Isabella was in desperate need of both. "He's right but who would train her? She needs someone that can keep her safe and train her enough to keep her alive." She asked glancing around. All eyes turned to her.

She would be the obvious choice.

The idea had no appeal to her though. She had no desire to train a fallen goddess in combat especially when it could go blow up so fantastically in her face. "I can't." She shook her head negatively.

"Hephaestus?" Her gaze cut to the other god and he shook his head. He didn't want to responsible if something went wrong either.

Dionysius wasn't an option and Helios had other prior commitments. There was no one else in the room willing to help her. No one else was crazy enough to blatantly defy Zeus and possibly end up fighting the other gods-not over Isabella.

"I'll train her."

Everyone jumped at the new voice. They all knew that voice.

"Ares." Athena said quietly acknowledging her brother in arms. He must have crept into the room without them noticing and been waiting in the shadows for his opportunity to speak. At his name the war god made his presence fully known, his molten gaze flicking coolly about the room.

"Hello Athena. Hephaestus. Dionysius. Helios." He nodded at each of them in turn before refocusing his gaze on her. "I can train her."

There was no one more qualified.

And no one more stupid. Ares training Isabella was an incredibly bad idea.

After taking one look at the war god's face, Athena sighed. What choice did they have though?

"Fair enough." She demurred shaking her head. "Tell me Ares-if you are in fact serious about training Isabella how do you feel about Alaska? Or Switzerland?"

**bellum omnium in omnes**

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**Bellum Omnium in omnes means-A war of all against all**

**Okay this chapter is done. What do you all think?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Haha you know that annoying moment when you go back and look at the previous chapters you've written and realize you made a lot of mistakes….I just noticed several of those in the last two chapters. For example calling Ares Zeus' brother was wrong. Ares is Zeus' son. Maybe updating when I'm sick is a bad idea. But yeah thank you for the reviews. They were interesting^^ Here's the new chapter. I know Ares role in my story is a bit…unorthodox since everyone's trying to prevent a war and he's the god of war but work with me. I promise it'll make sense later on this story is just progressing really slowly.**

**Oh yeah just out of curiosity has anyone seen the new Breaking Dawn movie? I'm debating on whether or not to go see it...I'm not really a fan of the books or the movies. This one looks semi-interesting though. **

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**Chapter 5~**

**Ad Finem**

Bella flipped to the next page in her book, her eyes barely skimming over the page before flicking to the clock on the wall. When was Angela coming home? A comfortable routine had developed between the two of them over the past several days. Every day after school Angela brought back a book for her to read, and in the evenings her time was spent mindlessly ogling the t.v. She needed to be informed on present day euphemisms, catch phrases, and idiosyncrasies. She wasn't thrilled about butchering her carefully mastered grammar just to learn modern day slang but it was a necessary evil. She had to blend in.

Thankfully because of the new advancements in technology it was easy. T.v. was her friend. Angela made sure to ingratiate every plotless inane television show she could find into her repertoire. It helped Bella understand how any other teenager her age would behave. It was a necessity-however if she had to watch one more fucking episode of Jersey Shore she was going to brutally murder something-or someone. That show was not informative just insanely cruel, and responsible for many deteriorating brain cells.

Brain cells she desperately needed in order to stay one step ahead of her pursuers. The severity of her situation still bothered her. Only recently had a cold gnawing feeling began to eat away at her stomach. She missed her powers and her sisters. She missed her father and the inferno steeds. She missed home. By throwing herself into studying and disciplining herself to think, act, and speak like a modern day teenager she was distancing herself from her grief. She could distract herself from her yearnings as long as she stayed busy and engrossed in studying.

That's what she had been doing with Angela the past two weeks.

In order to occupy herself she focused on menial tasks-analyzing books, dissecting television shows. She felt less ignorant now. She could identify foreign objects at a glance, and not everything she looked at was a mystery.

The concept of electricity and clean fuel energy no longer astounded her. The invention of cars and aerodynamic machines such as airplanes no longer awed her. The principles of stem cell research although outlandish and far fetched no longer wow-ed her. Bella was finally beginning to grasp the changes and the human race had gone through. Mortals as a whole had made large strides since her time.

Even society was different. Idealists weren't looked down upon for being weak or naïve anymore. Their words held purpose and value beyond being some deluded unrealistic dream. It wasn't simply "a mans world" anymore either. Women were considered equal to men, and treasured for more than just their looks and their baby making abilities.

The mortal world had improved at an exponential rate from the Dark Ages. Bella loved it, but what she wasn't very fond of was the very human logic that seemed to have crippled society. In this new era of technology there was no room for the divine. There was no room for gods and goddesses. Anything mystical, magical, and wonderful was a thing of the past.

Why?

Superiority. Desensitization. For some reason she couldn't fathom the people of this generation were immune to the paranormal. They didn't believe in anything they couldn't see. They didn't trust what they couldn't touch. There was no faith. No one believed in monsters, or gods, or demons anymore. No one believed in anything anymore. It was sad.

She wondered how long she would be able to function in this new age-in this era of mechanics. She wasn't used to depending on technology. In fact all the new machines although sleek and incredibly powerful were also incredibly stupid. Bella was used to crafting things with her hands. Her skills gravitated towards molding things, creating things, and calming beasts. Useless skills. In these modern times she wasn't meant to lift a finger. Angela made it look so easy-then again her half-sister made everything look easy. Although she was young Angela was also well rounded, and well educated.

This new fast paced time didn't bother her in the slightest. Glumly Bella glanced down at the book she was reading. According to Angela-She could just as easily learn this historical information by using the internet. A valid point-but that idea had no appeal to her. Computers looked depressingly complex and she wasn't particularly interested in the civil war-just another fruitless battle humans fought for their precious ideals.

The door swinging open caused her to pause in her ruminations.

"Bella!"

"Ange!" She called back just as enthusiastically dropping her book civil war book. The fallen goddess jumped to her feet trotting over to the door.

The familiar sight of Angela bogged down by bags made her flinch. "No no no no. I don't want to read anymore." She said petulantly crossing her arms. She knew the bags carried more novels for her to glance over. She was sick to death of reading though. Leisurely novels to read for pleasure were fine. Shoving books down her throat to study was not fine. It made her tired and irritable-not to mention light headed.

At some point all the words just starting running together.

"Oh stop whining." Angela smirked tossing a couple of bags at her. Not expecting the sudden weight Bella fell back, eyes bulging as the huge tomes collided with her chest.

"Dammit Angela." She groaned, glaring at the bag of books now cradled in her arms.

"Dammit Angela." Angela echoed her with a small amused grin stretching over her lips. "Bella a little reading never hurt." Her half sister reprimanded gently chuckling a bit.

Twitching Bella held up one monstrously large bag. "This is not a little reading." She said flatly. Angela's only response was to giggle and shake her head. Clearly Bella's reluctance to read the giant novels was amusing to her sister.

"C'mon Bella help me put these up."

Grumbling a bit she did what was asked of her. For the next five minutes the sisters worked side-by-side stacking books on the shelves. Angela was one of the most meticulous people Bella had ever met. The books were arranged alphabetically by genre. She was half tempted to put the new books in the wrong section but was sure Angela would stab her with fork if she did. Mess with her house and Angela was fine. Misplace a trinket-it was cool. Disrupt her organization and someone was going to die.

After the books were carefully arranged Bella glanced at Angela. Her expression turned curious. "How was your day at school Ange?"

For the first time since Angela arrived home Bella was able to see a glimmer of frustration in her face. "It was alright-not the worst day I've ever had, but not the best either."

"Could you be anymore vague?" Bella said wrinkling her nose.

Rolling her eyes Angela stuck her tongue out at her. "It kind of sucked. My friends-"

" Jessica, Mike and Lauren." She interrupted with a smile.

"All acted like it was a normal day, and for the most part it was. My boyfriend-"

"Ben." Bella interrupted again smirking at the annoyed glance sent her way.

"Even Ben seemed unaffected by the weirdness of the day-the oddest part of the day didn't stem from my friends or the school itself. The odd part of the day was all thanks to the self proclaimed pariahs of the school-"

Bella's eyes flashed and her smile grew evil. "The Cullens!" She called out and had to duck out of the way when Angela lunged at her. Her half sister growled at Bella's evasiveness and grappled with her. One arm encircled around Bella's neck putting her in a chokehold, and the other kept her pinned against the couch.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." Angela said, sending a baleful glare in her direction. "The Cullens made my day very odd."

From her uncomfortably inert position stuck under Angela's arm, Bella grunted. "Do tell."

"Well for the most part yunno how I said the Cullen's were strange but nice? With the exception of Rosalie who seems to want everyone to spontaneously keel over and die when she glares at them?"

Bella nodded slowly, and wriggled free from Angela's grasp-shoving her half sister away from her. Without even having the decency to flinch-Angela gracefully allowed herself to be pushed backwards and continued her story. "Well today was odd because one of the brothers, Edward Cullen, seemed to have an exceptionally hard time being in the same vicinity as me. He acted like I had garbage dump breath or something."

Bella snorted. "If that was the case Ben would have told you."

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"Nothing at all." Bella said innocently before dissolving into fake coughs. "Whore." She said between hacking coughs.

Angela sent her a withering glare. "Shut up."

Making quick placating gestures Bella tried to soothe the beast. "Alright Alright sorry. Didn't mean to insult your delicate sensibilities little sister," She murmured trying to keep her face blank-Against her will a small smile tugged at her lips. "Does that mean you're not getting any?"

Bella ducked again as a pillow hit the space where her face had been a couple of seconds ago. "Aren't you a pacifist? Why are you being violent and throwing inanimate objects at me?"

Angela chuckled. "Shut the hell up Izzy." Her sister said shaking her head.

Bella grinned at the affectionate nickname before returning to the subject they had been discussing. "But yeah I have no idea why Edward would be acting different around you. You've described all your friends and went into detail about the public school system. You only briefly talked about the Cullens."

Her half-sister shrugged helplessly. "There's not much to say. I don't know much about them. They are all extremely pale, extremely reclusive and extremely beautiful. Every Cullen child has the same golden eyes and they're all the children of Doctor Cullen."

"Odd…So are they human?" Bella questioned after a moment's silence.

"I don't know what they are. I never bothered to find out. They never seem to cause any trouble so I didn't concern myself with them. Edward's behavior just struck me as unusual that's all."

"So if he is acting weirdly for a reason, and if he is in fact dangerous-what are you going to do about it?" Bella asked quirking a brow at her half-sister. Angela was a demigoddess so she wasn't helpless. Fighting was not one of her fortes though. Her sibling was a firm believer in diplomacy even when a simple snap of the neck, or dive off a cliff would simplify things. Sometimes violence really was the answer.

A mysterious smile graced Angela's face. "I have my ways."

Just like a goddess to be cryptic.

What in the hell did that even mean?

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"Tell me if I'm wrong, but I do believe we're going in the wrong direction. I clearly remember saying of all the places mentioned-Switzerland, Greenland, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Russia, and Alaska that I would prefer to run this operation from Switzerland. Switzerland is in the other direction Athena."

Ares' cold calculating gaze flicked to her when he talked and she shrugged casually. Perhaps lying to the god of war wasn't an ideal plan but it had its own appeal at the time. "Ares you know we needed a place that was barren of people right? Not only did it need to be barren of people it needed to be cold and always touched by winter so Helios could not spy on Isabella. Alaska was the only acceptable place that met both of those conditions."

Ares despite wearing a human glamour, still looked intimidating and angry like always. His posture only tensed at her words and he focused all of his anger at her. Athena had to force herself not to edge away from the volatile god. "We said we were going to Switzerland while Helios was in the room. You toyed with the emotions of a grieving father and you sent him on a wild goose chase." He stated shaking his head in wonder. "You are one evil wench."

"Not evil-cautious. This is a battle Ares. The art of misdirection could save lives."

Ares rolled his eyes sitting back in his seat. "Don't justify yourself to me. I don't care how callous you are or how you're lying to people. Sugar coating your actions won't make them any less harmful in the end. " He mused lying back against the cushioned seat and closing his eyes.

Athena glared at his resting form.

Ares was always trying to get under someone's skin. Riding in a private jet with him for the next several hours was going to be annoying. They should have booked separate flights. After determining their course of action, and fooling the other gods Athena had immediately dragged Ares to Earth mindful of their increasingly small time window. Zeus was on the move. Isabella was in danger.

Everything was happening in a rush.

Her eyes slid to the window of the jet taking in the blurred scenery with a detached expression. It had only been a couple of hours but time was crawling by. All these centuries of meddling and she still had very little patience. The irony didn't escape her. Several Millenniums were supposed to make her timeless, guileless instead they just left her feeling disjointed and apathetic. All immortals went through this uncaring phase and now more than over she was feeling her age. Playing at mortality irked her but they had to do things the human way. They had a limited amount of time to travel to Alaska, purchase a house, and plant Ares in a mortal occupation. After furnishing Isabella's hiding place they had to go retrieve the fallen goddess from Angela's house and then the real fun would begin.

Ares was going to have to keep Isabella hidden and teach her how to be ambiguous in the human world. Not only that he was going to have to train her so she could survive against the supernatural skulking about-Werewolves, Vampires, witches, elementals, nymphs, shapeshifters, demi-gods, succubi, and any other monster with a hint of power. It was not going to be a pleasant experience but perhaps his tutelage would indebt Isabella to him so she would be unable to start a war. Nurturing her guilt, and her sense of obligation might benefit them all.

Athena's lips twitched upward into a smirk-the esteemed god of war lowering himself to play the part of babysitter-now that was funny.

She was going to have so many jokes at his expanse when this was over.

In the meantime Athena amused herself by gazing at the scenery or strategizing their next move. One thing that still bothered her about this mess was Ares involvement. The war god was unstable and unsuitable to train Isabella. They were trying to prevent a battle, and he was not exactly in advocate for peace. Unfortunately he was the only god reckless enough to actually want to train the fallen goddess-that left them at an impasse. In order to prevent a war she needed his complete and total cooperation. His prerogative was to keep his violent tendencies under control and set an example for Isabella. She needed to idolize him-trust him, and flourish under his teachings. In order for them to reach their goal he needed to go against his nature. Preventive plans needed to be made as well. In the event that he deviated from their plan she needed a back up-A fall back measure in case plan A failed. Overzealously she lost herself in plotting out future schemes and before she knew it the jet was landing.

Smoothly the mortal pilot descended, steering the plane to a complete and graceful stop. Athena's lips curled in distaste and she nudged the war god next to her. Asleep he almost looked peaceful. Too bad he was a complete jackass when he was awake.

"Ares." He didn't even twitch. Athena huffed and roughly shook him hoping to jar him awake. "Ares." She said more insistently.

With lightning quickness a hand shot out and wrapped around her neck. Two icy eyes stared back at her indicating the war god was no longer asleep. The behemoth hand wrapped around her jugular was a huge deterrent in speaking but Athena managed-barely, matching Ares' cold glare with one of her own. "We've arrived." She rasped.

Ares never looked away from her.

A battle of wills ensued. Goddess of wisdom staring down the god of war. Eventually the grip on her neck slackened and Ares released her. With an exasperated sigh she rubbed the side of her neck. "Now that you're done posturing," She said calmly getting to her feet. "Can we go? We do have more important things to be doing."

Like he hadn't just been considering crushing her windpipe-Ares shrugged carelessly. "Lead the way." Fluidly he got to his feet and at his full height, glamour or not he towered over her. Athena had to look up to glare at him.

"Gladly." She ground out, flicking imaginary dust off her shoulder.

Side by side they left the plane ignoring the mumbling of the pilots. Both were murmuring pleasantries asking them to use their airline again and hoping they would have a nice trip. Foolish mortals. This wasn't a vacation. Immediately upon climbing off the exit ramp they were chilled by the crisp Alaskan air. It was cold outside, as far as the eye could see there was only white. A long extremely cold and wet sea of white.

In other words hell froze over and there was only snow here now. Lots of snow.

Not compatible with the Isabella's heritage. Heliades' craved sun like addicts craved drugs. She would HATE this place.

"Where are we again?" Ares asked boredly.

Despite his apparent lack of interest, Athena held no doubt that he had examined every stray snowflake, and landmark within his field of vision. He was looking for a fight even here in the most remote of places.

"We're in Alaska."

A frown marred his perfect features. "Obviously. Where in Alaska?"

"Cordova, Alaska." She replied testily knowing the answer would do little to pacify him.

"Wonderful." He breathed his eyes doing another cursory sweep of the area. Athena ignored his paranoid tendencies and grabbed her bag. They needed to hail a cab and find some houses for sale-which also meant talking to some realtors. This whole situation was tedious and she found dragging the god of war around like a lost puppy to be in bad taste. Unfortunately she couldn't leave him to his own devices. Cooperation was key.

Together they made their way to the front of the airport. It wasn't a very large facility because Cordova wasn't a booming city in Alaska. It was a small decrepit town on the verge of financial ruin. Very few people lived here and the ones that did were perseverant with an almost Puritan resilience to nature. The people in Cordova were not Thoreau fanatics-they didn't lounge in the woods and live off mediocre farming tactics, but they weren't exactly city folk either. They were unique.

Not only were they unique they were delightfully sheltered from other aspects of the modern world. The use of technology here was minimal, and Athena was counting on that. It would take longer to locate Ares and Isabella since this barren place was so disconnected from the rest of the United States. Cordova was still stuck in a different decade. She was surprised there was even a transportation system other than sled dogs.

"Taxi!" She waved her hand waiting for a car to stop.

Ares stood sullenly behind her glaring at the passing cars. Eventually one did stop in front of her, and young man climbed out of the driver's side. Donned from head to toe in winter gear it was hard to guess his age but his face was moderately attractive. He had a quirky grin and perverted intent etched all over his face. He was thousands of years to young for her. She couldn't even play with him. He might have a mental breakdown, and crying wasn't exactly a turn on.

"Hello do you know of any neighborhoods where some houses are for sale?" She asked politely.

Blatantly staring at her, the young man's eyes caressed every inch of her body and never managed to make it to her face. Used to this kind of reaction she just exhaled a puff of air and snapped her fingers to get his attention. "My eyes are up here." She said dryily watching as his face turned a brilliant shade of red. She laughed at his boy-ish reaction and spoke much more warmly this time. "Me and my friend are looking for a house. Do you know where some good houses are for sale?" She asked again.

Properly humbled the boy met her gaze instead of eye-fucking her. "Down on Decatur there are some houses for sale."

"We'd like to check them out please." Athena said sweetly edging towards the door. "Can you take us there?"

A crooked smile stretched across the young human's face. "Of course. Happy to be of service." He nodded genteelly at her, than briefly dipped his head at Ares-acknowledging his presence. "Oh let me get your bags." He said sheepishly scurrying over to take their luggage. Athena smiled gently and handed him hers. Ares silently passed his over as well, regarding the boy impassively.

Unable to feel the war god's animosity the mortal shoved the luggage in the back of the car and left the door open for his passengers to get in the car. With some hesitance Athena slid in the back, and was swiftly followed by Ares. The war god slammed the door behind them startling the driver.

Anxiously from his seat the mortal glanced backwards. "My name is Nathan by the way, and I'll be driving you around for a bit. It will take fifteen minutes to get near Decatur."

"Thank you Nathan." She sent the boy a heartwarming smile and had to hold back a laugh when he ducked his head. This mortal was adorable. Uncomfortably, Nathan started the car, his facial expression strained. Clearly the effort it took to pay attention to the road-and not undress her with his eyes was exhausting.

Beside her Ares snorted, unamused by her games.

Athena swerved to glare at him, conveying just how much she cared about his opinion.

In response to her heated glare, he simply rolled his eyes mouthing a quick _"Oh go suck a Cyclops-Lady wisdom."_

Affronted, her mouth dropped open.

Ares you ornery childish bastard…

She formulated a silent reply mouthing an equally scathing comeback.

_"Screw you too you peabrained dipwad. At least I'm not some dumb ass that keeps an affair going for 3000 years-and keeps getting caught by Hephaestus. Maybe if you would get laid like a normal guy you wouldn't be so tense and angry all the time, but no you have to keep fucking another man's wife. You're the biggest man hoe on Olympus next to Zeus ."_

Oh if looks could kill. She would be very dead right now. Bringing up Ares' affair with Aphrodite was always dangerous.

Too bad she didn't care. She stood on equal ground with the god of war. If he wanted to instigate something she would more than happily oblige him. For the next ten minutes they engaged in a silent argument-insulting each other in the most offensive ways possible. Nathan sat in the front seat of the car completely oblivious to the tense exchange going on behind him.

By the time the car stopped they were both incredibly pissed off.

_"We'll settle this later_." She whispered under her breath.

Ares didn't even acknowledge her he simply got out of the car. Athena resisted the urge to yank him back and throttle him. They were allies-for now. Fighting him would be counterproductive. They were far too old to be arguing like children anyways. Sullenly she got out of the car, lightly pushing the door shut behind her.

Excitedly Nathan bounded around to talk to her. He reminded her of a puppy-cute, companionable, and a little bit too noisy. "We're here Miss. These are the closest houses for sale." He beamed, showing off his dimples.

"Wonderful." Athena replied with a grin before turning to glance at the neighborhood. The place was decent. The houses were all in a half circle, making a little crescent shape. Every house was built entirely from wood, and gave off a clean homey vibe. If she had to guess the inside probably looked bare. That worked in their favor because Ares would no doubt prefer a Spartan living space.

"Here are your bags." Nathan's voice appeared next to her again. In the span of a few seconds the mortal boy had retrieved their bags from the car and ran back over to them. He now stood awkwardly next to her. She was confused at the expectant expression on his face. What did the little rodent want?

She quirked a brow than realized something important-Nathan was a taxi driver. He required money to transport people around all day. Ugh. She would honestly consider flashing the boy before she considered paying him. Money just seemed so … trivial. Oh well-the pains of playing human. Heaving an aggravated sigh she grabbed one of her bags, popping it open and began to fish for her wallet.

After a second of digging she pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to him. "For your trouble-keep the change. You earned it." She said kindly, letting her hand linger on his for a second longer than necessary.

He gulped, licking his lips. "T-t-thanks." He stuttered blushing painfully.

"No problem." She said withdrawing from his space before he spontaneously combusted. Hesitantly the entranced boy all but stumbled to the car sending frequent glances back in her direction.

"Will you get out of here?" Ares grunted.

Like a scared rabbit-Nathan meeped and darted to the other side of the vehicle. They both watched in mild amusement as he leapt in the driver's seat. Within seconds the engine purred to life and he was gone.

Ares crossed his arms. "Stupid brat." He muttered shaking his head. Athena smirked, agreeing with the war god's assessment of Nathan. She met his icy gaze with her own steele and a mutual understanding passed between them.

"Now what?"

"Now." She said tiredly glancing at the picket sign in front of the nearest house. "Now we call the realtors."

"Joy." Ares cheered flatly.

Athena rolled her eyes before gliding over to the sign. Her eyes traveled restlessly over the unfamiliar words. The sooner they called the realtors, the sooner they bought the house, the sooner she could leave. "Denali real estate huh." She mused out loud-addressing no one in particular. Ares remained unusually silent behind her as she took out her phone and dialed the number scratched out on the sign.

Ring.

Ring.

"Hello?" A low velvety voice greeted her.

"Hello. My name is Anita Jordan. I'm calling on behalf of my brother. Him and his niece are moving here and are interested in buying one of your houses."

"Ah it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Anita." The smooth voice said politely. "My name is Eleazer Denali. My wife and I run Denali real estates. You mentioned being interested in one of our houses? Which one may I ask?"

"1311 Decatur Drive." Athena replied after glancing at the number engraved on the wooden house in front of her.

"Ah a lovely house-if you're serious about buying than may I suggest we have this discussion in person and we can go over some paperwork and discuss a downpayment."

"That would be wonderful." Athena grinned, relieved that this was going to go smoothly.

"I'm glad. Let me take down your number and I will call you when my wife and I are on our way. We'll see you shortly."

"Okay. Thank you for your time Mr. Denali."

"My pleasure."

Athena closed her phone with a click. "Well everything's in motion."

Ares didn't reply directly-his only response was to look up at the sky muttering darkly. "Adde Parvum parvo magnus acervus erit."

"Aristotle?"

Ares shook his head slowly, a frown disrupting his perfect features. "No..That was Ovid."

Huh. Perhaps Ares was not completely stupid.

* * *

**Ad finem-means to the end or at the end of the page**

**Adde Parvum parvo magnus acervus erit-means add a little to a little and there will be a great heap.**

**Greek people~**

**I think the only thing I need to touch on is the section where I talked about Ares being with Aphrodite. I knew they had several kids together. I wasn't aware that Aphrodite was Hephaestus' wife until recently. That made me laugh because she had more kids with Ares than Hephaestus and Hephaestus knew she was cheating on him. That made things deliciously ironic. God of war shacking up with the goddess of love…Yes! XD**

**Also Ovid was a Roman poet that wrote several masterpieces but the only one I'm familiar with is Medea.**

**Anyways- So what do you all think? Stay tuned for more. Next chapter will be out soon. Finally get to start integrating the Denali's and the Cullens into the story next chapter.**


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